The Assistant
by be a riot
Summary: "But I thought somebody had heard my music...I was going to get signed to Starr Records?" "Heaven's no. Sweetie, You've been hired to be Austin Moon's personal assistant." / / In which, aspiring musician, Ally Dawson, becomes Austin Moon's personal assistant. / /
1. Chapter 1

The door was slammed.

Austin Moon casually looked over and nodded towards his manager. "Trish, you're early. Did you want to watch the game with me?" Austin questioned, pointing at the TV with his remote.

Trish, Austin's very angry manager, stormed towards him and snatched the remote from his grip. She turned off the TV and stepped in front of him, arms folded and foot tapping impatiently. Austin looked at her with an incredulous look.

"I just wanted-"

"You always just want." she sneered.

He sighed, his head lulling back onto the leather couch behind him. "What did I do this time?"

"Rob quit." Trish deadpanned, but her voice held a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

"Good." Austin muttered under his breath.

"Austin!" Trish exclaimed.

"He was horrible, Trish!" Austin shrieked in reply, "He wore suits every day like he was a butler! He made me wear a bow tie to the red carpet! He even messed up the date of my photoshoot-"

"-The photoshoot was my fault." Trish interrupted quickly.

Austin rolled his eyes. He personally didn't care who was at fault, all he knew was that Rob was an awful assistant who should have never been hired. Rob even used his shower, without permission! Assistants had rules; not using the musician's showers is one of them. Rob broke the rules often. Austin wasn't a rule follower himself, but he believed that assistant's should always follow the rules and do things according to task. Rob seemed to always have his own schedule. He was a forty-something-year-old idiot who probably even used Trish's razor on his legs.

He was not in Austin's good books.

"Austin, that was sixth one. In three and a half years." Trish sighed.

"Obviously, I'm hard to please." Austin said, giving her a witty smile.

Trish shook her head. Austin was infuriating her. She may have been his friend since he was twelve, but that doesn't change the fact that Austin's changed and he needs something to pull on his big boy socks for him. He needed someone who wouldn't kiss his feet. He needed someone who he couldn't get rid of, someone who could do this job properly and right.

Trish scrubbed her fingers through her frizzy, curly locks. Austin smirked at Trish, "Remember what your Mom said: Don't frown or your face will stay like that forever."

"Now is not the time, Austin." she barked, "This is serious. You need an assistant. Your life is so busy that you can't keep up without one. The assistant is meant to help you."

"And Rob was doing exactly the opposite." Austin chimed, his voice growing distant as he now travelled into his room. He returned wearing a grey hoodie and holding car keys. "If you're so worried about it, find another one. You didn't have trouble with the other five after I fired the first one."

"I know, but Austin, I don't think you're-"

"I'll catch you later. Studio time." Austin said, walking out and shutting the door in Trish's face.

She sighed, her shoulders sagging with stress and frustration. "-Getting it." she finished with a grumble. She could see the flashing lights from behind the curtains. She didn't know how he managed to even walk to his car with the paparazzi following him like that.

Trish glanced around his apartment and saw the bottles of beer and scotch everywhere. Although she trusted him enough to drink appropriate amounts, she swore one day he'd grow a drinking problem. He's already got an attitude problem, what would stop him from any other problems?

She pulled out her phone. "Cassidy," Trish sighed, "I need you to clean Austin's place."

"Again?" Cassidy groaned, "What about Rob? He's his assistant, can't he do the cleaning?"

"Rob quit." Trish groaned, "If you know of anyone willing enough to be Austin's _seventh _and _last _assistant...let me know."

"Actually," Cassidy said, "I think you might have a taker. I'm staring at a biography of her as we speak."

"Thank God," Trish breathed, "Now get down here quick. It smells." Trish hung up the phone, silently thanking God that somebody might fit this role. She prayed it was the last one to ever fit the role.

**x **

_**2 weeks later **_

Ally smiled wide, stepping into Starr Records large building. It more beautiful than she imagined it would be. She smelled the aroma of _success_. Her heart was practically jumping inside of her mouth. It was happening. It was really going to happen this time. Her dreams were going to come true - everything she's thought about, everything she's cried about, everything thing she's talked about, it was all unraveling to be true.

Or so she thought.

She stops at the front desk. Ally drummed her fingers nervously on the counter top. A woman with glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose eyed her intensely. "Can I help you?" she asked. Well, at least she sounded nice.

"Uh...Uh...I..." Oh, come on, what's her name again? Ally. Ally Dawson. Her name is Ally Dawson. "I'm Ally Dawson. I was called to meet with..."

Ally didn't have time to finish her sentence when she heard somebody call out for her, "Ally!"

A short Latina girl came rushing to her with a big smile. Ally smiled back, half-excitedly, half-uncomfortably. This definitely wasn't who she wanted to see. Where was Jimmy Starr? The big man behind all of this? Where's the man she's dreamt about meeting, dreamt about working for?

Ally opened her mouth to speak but she was already interrupted before anything got out. "Come with me." Trish invited, wiggling a finger at Ally, ordering her to follow.

Ally wasn't one to argue or ask too many questions - Okay, the last parts a lie. Ally always asked questions. That's why the students at school disliked her so much. She was the kid who always said _Teacher, what about our homework?_ It wasn't like she meant to make the students' lives miserable. She just always wanted to be honest.

Trish sat down behind a big, oak desk, inviting Ally to sit on a comfortable red chair. Ally took a deep breath, making sure to take in everything about this room. This was it. Everything she ever wanted was happening.

Once again: Or so she thought.

"Excuse me, I forgot to tell you who I am. My name's Trish De La Rosa. We spoke on the phone a couple weeks ago." Trish grinned. Ally even looked like the perfect fit for the job, Trish thought.

Ally nodded, "Oh, Yes, I remember."

"I'm so glad to hear from you. We're really desperate. Austin is just..." Trish sighed and looked at Ally honestly, "I won't lie; he's a handful. He never used to be this way, he just...You know what, let's not talk about Austin, let's talk about you. What made you send in your biography and application for this job?"

"Application?" Ally quizzed out loud. Everything that Trish had just spilled out to Ally hadn't made any sense. Who was Austin? What application? Heard from her? As far as Ally was concerned, this call was random and Ally knew nothing about it. She answered the phone on a rainy night and low and behold, it was Trish De La Rosa (whoever that is) asking to meet with Ally.

Trish furrowed her eye brows together. "Yes, I've got your biography here." Trish pulled out a file. "It's not a legitimate application, but it was close enough. You described your goals, strengths, weaknesses. Everything an interview could've asked for. You definitely seem like the perfect fit and like I said before, without fabrication, we're desperate. You don't need to stress, I've already told everyone you're hired. You had enough about yourself on here that I had no further questions. Again, you're the perfect fit."

Something in Trish's sincere, relieved, and desperate eyes told Ally that this meeting was not what she planned for it to be. Something told her that this was not about herself in the slightest, but instead, about some Austin.

Ally's eye brows wormed together. She was quiet for a moment as she dealt with the confusion in her mind. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry, but I thought somebody had heard my music...I was going to be signed to Starr Records?"

"Heaven's no." Trish shook her head at such an absurd thought. "Sweetie, you've been hired to be Austin Moon's personal assistant."

Ally didn't even have time to feel the disappointment of her dreams being crushed when she heard the name. "A...Austin Moon?" Ally's eyes were wide, she was now gawking and she didn't even try to hide it.

"Yes, of course." Trish said, confused wrinkles lined one on top of the other on her forehead. Trish looked at her oddly. "Is there a problem?"

"I was hired to be an assistant? Austin _Moon's_ assistant?" Ally echoed, emphasizing his last name, double-checking to see if, perhaps, she'd heard wrong. Ally's shock ran deeper when Trish nodded in confirmation. "But I..."

"It's a hard job to take on, but I have the feeling you'll do fine!" Trish encouraged. "I'll definitely run you through some things. What we expect from you, all of your tasks, details about Austin, your pay, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera." Trish said.

Ally sat there stiff for a moment. It turns out that her dreams were just crushed and she wasn't really going to meet up with Jimmy Starr, well, maybe she would, but not for herself and her own career. She was now supposedly hired to be a personal assistant to pretty much the biggest male public figure in the world.

She swallows thickly and forces a smile, "That sounds great."

Well, she had to agree. Trish had already told her that she'd been hired before they'd even met and she'd already gone around informing everyone of her. Ally also knew that this was probably the best-paying job she'd find until she reached her dreams of becoming a musician. She was in Los Angeles now, she kind of needed the job now that she knew she wasn't going to be famous any time soon.

"Wait," Ally said, "Um, I don't have...I don't have a place. I'm from Miami. I've only got a hotel right now, I don't-"

"Don't worry about it!" Trish smiled, "You'll have an apartment, paid for by us until you can get on your feet. You will be spending most of your time with Austin and a lot of the crew. That means you'll be going to-"

"-Everything." Ally finished for her. Trish nodded. _This will be torture. _Ally thought. She had to work for somebody and watch them live out her dream. Ally shook her head, forcing out another smile as Trish began to inform Ally of everything.

**x **

**a few days later**

"You're _what!?_"

"In L.A." Ally cringed, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

"You said you were going to Chicago for a concert, Allyson!" her father fumed.

"I know, Dad," Ally sighed, "I lied to you and I'm sorry. I've got a really wonderful job and I've even found an apartment which I'm moving into tomorrow morning. Everything's under control. I have a really good job and it will pay well-"

"How good of a job?" her fathered groaned on the other end, rubbing his forehead. His daughter had lied to him and run away to L.A. He wasn't stupid, he knew that this must've been about her dreams to be signed to Starr Records and he also knew by her tone that she had not been signed. He wished her dreams were more realistic.

"A very good one. I'm...working as Austin Moon's personal assistant." Ally told him. If she was going to tell him, she was going to say it bluntly. There wasn't anything to hide. It was simple and shocking, but not a secret.

Lester chuckled gruffly, "Cute. What are you really doing?"

"Dad, I really am his assistant." Ally said. "I messed up on getting what I wanted and I was hired. The pay could've been higher but it's decent. Better than what I was getting in Miami at the music store."

The line was silent. Lester knew his daughter like the back of his hand and knew very well that she wasn't a liar. The job sounds like something from a book, but it was L.A., cool things happen there. He'd have to trust her. "I'll help you get your stuff to L.A."

"Thanks, Dad." Ally said, "You'll need to visit."

"I will, honey." Lester said, a lump in his throat. Ally really was in L.A. and she really wasn't coming home. She was so far away.

After a few reassuring words to her father, Ally hung up the phone. She sprawled out on the hotel bed. She hadn't begun her work yet. She didn't start for another two days. In fact, she hadn't even met Austin Moon yet. She was nervous, to say the least. She was meeting a successful, handsome, talented young man and was going to be spending nearly every wakening hour with him. He was also famous, she couldn't forget that. Who doesn't get anxious to meet a famous person? Especially somebody as famous as Austin, especially somebody _like _Austin.

She definitely wasn't a hater, that's for sure. She enjoyed his music, but she really only knew his Single's and a few other songs from his album's. She wasn't like her friends who were complete, what they call, _Moonwalkers_. Ally had never found Austin all too inspiring. She had read the articles about how he ignored fans, about all the women he slept with, the attitude, the fist-fights.

Ally wasn't much of a gossip-reader but she doubted it was gossip. There were too many facts and proof. Not to mention Trish's statement: _I won't lie; he's a handful._

She sighed softly. She felt sure that she would never live her dream. She knew that becoming a famous musician is a one in a million chance, how could she ever think that she would ever make it? There was proof right here, right now. What were the odds that she would get a call from her dream record label only to discover they didn't want to sign her, they wanted her only for their precious Austin Moon, to take care of him and his busy, _lucky _life.

Even after those talent shows she won, even after those gigs she played at the coffee shops and festivals, nothing had ever happened. Even now, here she was in L.A. and she was getting the exact opposite of what she wanted: to watch somebody else live her dream.

She decided she was going to have to suck it up and deal. She tried to look on the bright side of things: she was getting a good pay, she'd be kept busy so she wouldn't have time to grieve over the fact that her dreams would never come true, and she was working alongside one of the world's most famous musicians. It couldn't be all bad, could it?


	2. Chapter 2

Trish's eyes fell to her fancy and golden wrist watch. She winced at each tick. Trish's eyes wander towards the door.

_Anytime now, Austin, _Trish inwardly sang, gritting her teeth. She flinches as she looks at Ally, who is sitting patiently across the table, drumming her fingers lightly on the table top. "I'm so sorry. He's not usually this late." Trish lies, "Don't take it personally. He's just...he's always so busy, he just loses track-"

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal Austin Moon, leather jacket and all. Ally's heart kicked up in speed. She was meeting Austin Moon. _The_ Austin Moon. The boy who got famous from one little video on YouTube. The boy who steals hearts and doesn't give them back. The boy who has sold out more than a million singles on iTunes and plenty of albums. The boy who she would be assisting for, if she stuck around, probably the rest of her life.

"Austin." Trish said, her smile was tight as she shot daggers at him. He had embarrassed her. She didn't want Ally to quit this job. They needed Ally. Trish could see some sort of potential in Ally. Trish could hear the small whisper at the back of her head that told her _Ally could not quit this job. _At this point in their desperation, it was Ally who needed to be pleased, not Austin. (For once.)

Austin's eyes fall on a petite brunette girl sitting across from his manager. He pops a quick glance in Trish's direction and as he sees the slightly angered look there, he knows that this must be his new assistant. He eyed her, failing to notice her shift uncomfortably as his eyes scanned what he could see.

_At least she wasn't forty-something and wearing suits_, Austin silently said to himself, feeling smug towards his _cute _new assistant.

"Austin, would you mind taking a seat?" Trish said, after he stood there, eyeing Ally for longer than necessary.

His lips twitch into a smirk at Ally. He doesn't take his eyes off her as he pulls out his chair and sits in front of her. She looked like the timid-angel type. He started to wonder just how fun this was going to be.

"Austin, this is your new assistant Ally, Ally, this is, well, the Austin Moon the world seems to shamelessly adore." Trish said, voice wet with sarcasm as she looked over at the blonde boy.

Austin turned his head to sneer at Trish for a quick moment before he looked back at Ally and the smirk came back. He didn't say anything, he just kept staring. Ally felt very uncomfortable. This was not what she signed up for - Actually, she didn't sign up for this at all.

"Austin, if you don't mind, please help Ally feel welcome on her first day. First days are never easy." Trish said, smiling gently over at Ally but when her eyes caught Austin's, she gave him a demanding look.

Austin held Trish's domineering stare for a couple moments before rolling his eyes and looking towards Ally. "Alright, then," he said, the corner of his mouth lifts, no emotion behind it, "You can start with getting me a coffee. Black."

Ally seemed surprised by the order. She glanced at Trish who gave her a small nod, confirming that Ally could get to work now. Cassidy had been standing near the corner of the room. She waved Ally to come over. Cassidy had made an agreement to train Ally for the first couple of days until she got the hang of things. Cassidy led her out the room, Ally following behind anxiously.

When the door was shut, Austin turned to Trish, "Nice choice. You know I like brunette's." he smirked at her.

"Don't you think about it. She is your assistant, it is completely against the rules." Trish said.

Austin guffawed, "Like there's a code?"

"Yes." Trish said, firmly, "And this code says that you cannot, under any circumstances, have any inappropriate interactions with your assistant," suddenly pulling out a sheet of paper and sliding it over to Austin.

Austin eyed Trish for a long moment before taking the paper and scanning it with his eyes. "And when did this code take place?" Austin questioned, recalling that he hadn't heard this kind of rule before but, of course, his Latina friend and manager had highlighted this rule in a bright pink, underlined it and circled it with sharpie.

"The moment I hired her." Trish said. Austin looked at her. "She's a young and attractive female. I'm not stupid; I knew you'd try something."

Austin rolled his eyes, "You think I'm going to listen to your dumb rules?" he quizzed sourly as he flicked the paper away.

"I'm being serious, Austin." Trish said. "I get a good vibe from her. I think she might be the perfect assistant for you. You _cannot _mess this up."

"What makes you think _I_ will?" Austin retorted. Trish gave him a look. Austin rolled his eyes. "Alright, Alright. I won't _do _anything, but that doesn't mean I won't be thinking about it." he smirked at her. Trish groaned. He folded his arms in front of his chest and gave her a rueful look, "Let's hope _she_ doesn't mess this up."

"She won't." Trish said, confidently, "Like I said, I get a good vibe from her. You're the one I'm worried about."

"How sweet, I appreciate the concern." Austin said, haughtily. Trish sighed.

**x**

"Hey."

Ally jumped at the sound of the voice sitting so close. She looked over and spotted Austin Moon right next to her. "H...Hi."

He smirked, "Didn't mean to scare you." When Ally didn't reply and instead just stared at him with wide eyes, Austin continued, "So, it's Amy?"

"Ally, actually." she corrected gently.

He seemed to ignore her as he said, "You're awful at making coffee. I asked for two sugars, no cream." he fabricated to his own delight, taking pride and humor out of the way she looked at him with guilt and fear.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I don't usually...I don't usually make these kind of mistakes. I just...Well, it is my first day. I was just following what Cassidy said for me to do and-"

"-OK." Austin hissed sharply, silencing her rambling as he gave her an annoyed look. He inched closer to her, towering above her and making Ally's knees stutter and clank together while she tried not to fall over from intimidation. "Look, _Ally_, I'm a _professional, _not too mention, _famous_ musician, one who doesn't have time for your stupid little mistakes. Do your job and do it right."

_There's a word for people like him_, thought Ally.

"I apologize." she squeaked, swallowing thickly, "I'll listen carefully the next time."

"Yes, you will." Austin said, his eyes in an unreadable dark shade.

_A jerk? No. That's too light_, her thoughts went on.

"Sorry, I took so long, Ally. Here's your latte." Cassidy said, suddenly butting in front of Austin and handing Ally her beverage. Cassidy glanced over her shoulder at Austin. Her eyes shifted back to Ally. Her skin itched with tension and all her thoughts could do was grumble was his name. Cassidy was starting to really like this girl and if Austin fired her or made her quit, she'd have his head on a stick and his body on a silver platter.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Everything's fine." Austin replied.

_Ass? No, _Ally's thoughts racked her brain.

"I was talking to Ally." Cassidy retorted, smugly.

Ally forced a grin. "Fine. I was just, er, getting to know Austin."

Cassidy bought it right off the market; grinned and nodded. "Oh, okay."

"She's a delight." Austin said, a crooked and cocky smirk sat in the perfect shape on his lips.

_Bastard? Maybe not._

"Alright, Ally, I'll meet you downstairs in five. I'll show you how to take calls and how to work with the wardrobe fittings." Cassidy said, giving her elbow an assuring pinch before she slipped away from the duo and headed off.

"You're still here?" he questioned, as if she'd been dismissed many moments ago. Ally fought the urge to roll her eyes. Maybe Austin Moon wasn't all that she thought he would be. Although he had the same cute grin and sparkling eyes that were printed on magazine covers, he definitely wasn't the warm-hearted, charismatic boy that she always imagined he would be.

Suddenly, he reaches out and snatches her drink. She lets out a small, surprised gasp. "I do like latte's though. This will make up from your _mistake_." he said, putting the hot drink to his lips and slurping with a sly grin somehow still in place.

_Oh, I've got it! Douche bag! _Ally's thoughts became sour but at least she found the word that described him to the deepest.

"Don't keep Cassidy waiting. I don't want any more mistakes from you." Austin said and then waltzed away. Ally turned her head and watched him walk off. Her fists were clenched.

_So_, she thought, _this is how it's going to be._

Once Austin was out of the room, he coughed and cringed at the taste in his mouth. He didn't even really like latte's. He just took her drink out of spite. He tossed it into a nearby garbage can. He shook his head. If he had to obey Trish's rules, he might as well have fun with this Ally girl. He didn't even have the slightest bit of guilt as he lied to her about the mistakes, in fact, it was the best black coffee he'd ever had, but playing with her mind was really going to get his party started.

Austin smirked. This was the first time that he actually _knew _he'd enjoy having this assistant around. He couldn't wait until she actually began to really work for him. He had so much planned to make her miserable, so much planned to make his life a little bit more interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Ally sat in the room as she watched Austin standing on a platform in front of a large mirror. One lady was taking his waist size while the other was scrounging boxes looking for the right pair of shoes. Austin glanced over at Ally and saw her watching the women intensely. He knew how to direct her stare where it really should be.

On him.

Haughtily, he said, "See something you like?"

Ally looked at him, eyebrows pulling together. "What?" she asked, dumbly. Her eyes widened when she realized he really thought she'd been staring at him. She didn't know how to deny where her stare was without sounding like a sputtering truck with wheels caught in mud. She was never really the type to sound intimidating or to even share the same amount of animosity, or arrogance as he did. She was the shy, sit-in-the-corner-and-say-nothing type, the type who wished she was just the entire background and not really a person.

Austin smirked but before he could say anything, Ally cocked her head to the side. "He should be wearing the blue tie, not the green." Ally voiced.

The lady glanced at Ally and then grabbed the blue tie. She held it against Austin's shirt and grinned, looking back at Ally. "That works. Thanks, kid. You've got an eye."

Austin stared at himself in the mirror when the lady slung the tie around his neck. Perhaps Trish was right; Ally really was suitable for this job. Now that Cassidy had finished training her a few days ago, maybe Austin could see what Ally was made of when it came to being his assistant. Maybe she could be the assistant he's been looking for.

Austin cast a sideways glance at Ally and then looked back at the mirror and took the tie away from his neck. He tossed it carelessly towards Ally who (apparently had great reflexes) caught the tie in her hands. "I don't like it. I'm wearing the green."

"Oh, Well, Ally suggested the blue and-"

"Well, Ally was wrong. She's my personal assistant, not my stylist." Austin replied.

"Ally's job as an assistant is to keep an eye on these kinds of things-"

"-I don't care what she does in her job, I'm not wearing the blue tie. In fact, I don't want to wear a tie." Austin stubbornly told them.

Ally's eyes caught a leather jacket sitting on a stool. "How about this jacket?" she questioned, having ignored his comments and took the jacket into her hands and holding it up, "It would go well. It pulls everything together."

Austin looked over at the jacket. He liked the jacket and knew she was right. It would go with everything he was wearing. He still shook his head. "No."

"You're going to have to wear something." Ally told him.

"Nothing you suggest." Austin said, snidely. Ally lowered the jacket. "Grab me that one. I'm wearing it." Austin suddenly said, pointing towards a red one. Ally grabbed it and handed it to him. He roughly snatched it and shrugged it on.

"It's the same thing but in red." Ally pointed out.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Austin sent Ally a wry smile. "I like the red one. Red looks good on me." Austin said, casting a glance at Ally. Ally nodded her head slowly, unsure of what else to do. "Ally, get me a coffee."

"But we have to-"

"Now." Austin snapped. Ally nodded her head, grabbed her things and rushed out.

"How about it, Mr. Moon?" asked the woman who was helping him slide into his jacket. Austin looked at his reflection.

He bit the inside of his cheek. "Hand me that one." he pointed towards the black jacket Ally had recently been holding. The woman grabbed it and handed it to him.

Austin held the jacket up against his chest, staring at himself in the mirror. "I think I do like this black one."

The woman arched her eye brows, "Are you sure? I thought you-"

"I'll wear this one." Austin finalized. The woman nodded, taking the jacket to the back.

After a few minutes went by, Austin jumped off the platform he was standing on. He had changed back into his original clothes now. He glanced over to see Ally rushing through the door with two coffees. "We're on a schedule. We don't have time for you to grab yourself a coffee. This isn't free time for you."

"Oh, it's not for me." Ally said. Austin looked at her, confused. "Well, I remembered that you said you like your coffees two sugars, one cream but when I was with Cassidy, you liked your coffee black. I wasn't sure which one to get you, so I just got both." Ally said.

Austin stared at her for a moment. He fought back the urge to laugh at her spontaneous problem-solving. "I'll take the black." he said. Ally nodded her head and handed it forward to him. "You can have that one." he told her.

"Okay." Ally said, "We have to go now. Trish called me. We're already late for your interview rehearsal."

Austin nodded. Ally headed for his bags of clothes that we're on the floor while he didn't bother waiting on her. He headed out. Ally glanced inside the bag and saw the black jacket. She halted. She slowly looked over her shoulder at him and shook her head. She took the bags and headed after him.

Austin seemed to have already pushed his way through the crowd of paparazzi waiting for him on the street and gotten into the limo. Ally shoved her way through them and slammed the limo door shut. She stared at them. She fought her urge to smile, only imagining a day when those cameras could be for her.

She shook off the thought, telling herself that her dream would never come true. Being Austin Moon's assistant was the final proof of that.

**x**

Ally watched from backstage as Austin was being interviewed. He held a cool persona, flashing an occasional smile towards the audience. Ally crossed her arms and shook her head. She wished the world could see what a jerk he was, but she had a feeling they were beginning to find out.

Trish was standing across from her, sipping a coffee while typing something into her phone. She had a concentrated face on show. Ally slowly looked down to her phone that beeped. She saw it was her alarm, sending her small reminders of tasks she had yet to do. She sighed heavily. When she dreamed about being in L.A., she imagined she would be sitting on that couch with the interviewer, not on this stool watching somebody else live out everything she's prayed for.

As Ally listened to Austin give her cheesy answers to the interviewers response, she pulled out a pen and held her hand close to her chest. She scribbled down a few lyrics that came to her mind as she watched him. _Another name goes up in lights / You wonder if you'll make it out alive._

"Ally."

Ally looked away from the lyrics she had scribbled messily on the back of her hand and saw Cassidy standing to the side. She nodded at Ally and Ally followed. "We have a problem." Cassidy said.

"What happened?" Ally frowned.

Cassidy cringed. "There was a mistake in Austin's schedule"

"What do you mean?" Ally questioned.

"We scheduled Austin on the Helen Show for right now, tonight he's scheduled for spare time, he's got nothing going on. That's where the problem starts. " Cassidy began, "He was scheduled for a concert tomorrow night at 7:15 P.M. _and _he was also scheduled for a Press Conference at 7:30 P.M. I guess the schedule got mixed up and instead of having the concert tonight, it's tomorrow. I tried to change it, but it's not going to work out."

"What do we do?" Ally's eyes widened, already breaking into a nervous sweat.

"You," she pointed at Ally, "being Austin's personal assistant, it's your job to cancel the concert. Press Conferences are important and if we cancel it, it'll look very bad on his career. You need to call off the concert."

"Me?" Ally gasped. Cassidy nodded. "But we can't...It'll look so bad. We can't just cancel it."

"We don't have another option. I couldn't move the concert to tonight like I'd hoped, same deal for the conference." Cassidy sighed. "It's alright. All you have to do is explain the problem and apologize excessively. I've done it many times."

"So, can't you do it again?" Ally asked.

Cassidy sighed, "Ally, you're his personal assistant. It's _your _job."

"No...No, my job is to assist him. Not the management's matters." Ally said.

"It is your job. You have to take his calls, his _business _calls, and his personal calls. You have to do everything for him." Cassidy explained.

"But...But what about my other tasks? I'm supposed to arrange-"

"I guess you're working over-time." Cassidy said, with a shrug. "It happens to the best of us." Ally looked at her. "I'm sorry, Ally. I've got to straighten out his schedule and fix this so it won't happen again, which is supposed to be _your job_. I'm helping out as much as I can. I'll see you tonight?" Cassidy waved, walking off, calling on people to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to.

Ally bit on the inside of her cheek. She had so much to do. She wasn't talking an hour of over-time, she means she'll probably be up until midnight or later sorting things out. Ally sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

"Happens to the best of us," Ally grumbled, rolling her eyes. It wasn't supposed to happen to her. Especially because she didn't even want this job in the first place, she just wanted to perform. Unfortunately, these dreams are always only granted to people as stuck up as Austin.

"You look like you just lost your best friend."

_Speak of the devil._

Ally turned and looked at him. "Can I help you?" she had tried to make it as helpful as she could, but her voice dripped acid instead.

Austin lifted his arms in defense, "Sorry, Sorry." he said. He smirked at her. "The interview's over. We gotta get out of here. The limos waiting and I don't expect to be swarmed by pap's anytime soon." With that, he turned on his heel and started heading the other way.

She didn't know whether it was out of stress or anger, but she called after him, "You're stuck up, you know that?"

He turned, crooked grin in place. "Bite me, Dawson!"

She sighed and shook her head. She combed her fingers through her hair and followed Austin towards the limo. She was about to get in when he shut the door in her face. Ally groaned under her breath and opened the door, sliding in.

"Oops." Austin smirked.

Ally ignored him, clicking her seatbelt and pulling out her phone. "I can't believe you make everyone do everything for you." she grumbled under her breath.

Unfortunately Austin had heard her, "Hey, you chose this job, hun."

"I didn't actually." Ally said. Austin looked at her, but Ally didn't explain any further. "Keep track of your schedule. We're disappointing nine hundred fans tonight."

Austin watched her as she pressed her phone to her ear and began doing her work of letting down anyone who paid to see him in concert. He tried to shrug it off because he was a busy man after all, but it was her tone that was almost bone-chilling.

**x**

"Vegetables?" Austin snapped.

Ally looked at him, confused. She nodded her head, her curly locks bouncing along her shoulders. Austin's eyes were flat and cold. He glanced down at his plate with disgust, not daring to touch the small carrots and celery.

"You asked for a snack," Ally said, quietly, her mind racing to figure out what she had done wrong that was making him look at her like this, like she had really screwed up.

"I meant like a candy bar, or a piece of a cake. Not this poor excuse." Austin said, distastefully as he pushed the plate forward, refusing to eat the healthy choices.

"It's just some carrots and celery. It's good-"

"-Try disgusting. I'm not eating this. How many times are you going to screw up on this job?" Austin spat. Ally winced, trying to hold back the vibration of anger that was surging up her core.

"You have to stay healthy. You travel a lot. You can't be getting sick and a piece of cake won't help you. You should be eating healthy foods." Ally mothered.

Austin scoffed, shaking his head and causing some hair to fall into his eyes. For some reason, it bothered Ally seeing it there. She gritted her teeth and took the plate. "Get me _real food_."

"If you're so particular," Ally began, "Why don't you prepare your own snack?" she muttered, under her breath.

Of course, Austin had ears like a dog. Which came as a surprise, Ally imagined they would be damaged from all of his concerts and millions of fans screaming in his ears 24/7. "Because it's _your job_." Austin said. Ally wondered how many times people were going to say that to her. "You were hired to do everything I say, and you were hired to help me."

"You know," Ally snapped, feeling all her strings of patience weakening, "I have to give out nine hundred and some refunds, disappointing nine hundred of your _loyal _fans, and I have to do it in one night. It's going to be a long process. The least you could do was get off your lazy behind and get yourself your own goddamn piece of cake!"

It was silent for a moment before Austin cracked. The corner of his lips twitched and his shoulders began to shake, throat vibrating with laughter. Ally took a step back, staring at him with a puzzled look.

"You're...You're laughing?" she asked him, watching as he guffawed at her.

He quieted down and stood up, towering over her with his larger figure. "You're my assistant. You do what I say. You do whatever I want, when I want it. You don't get to argue with me. You don't get to refuse anything. You don't even have the authority to complain to me. I am your boss. I choose whether or not you continue this job. I've noticed that you don't have a soft spot for me, which means only one thing: You need this job. You don't have any other choice, do you? So, I'd suggest that you shut your pretty, little mouth and deal."

His face was inches from hers. She gulped, taking in a deep breath. She carefully and slowly nodded. "Right." she whispered, eyes peering up from beneath her lashes to catch his gaze. It was so close.

Ally took a step back from him, squaring her shoulders. "I guess I'll get you something different." she told him, turning around and walking away from him as she felt his domineering stare practically burning her spine to dust particles.

She suddenly halted and slowly looked over her shoulder at him. He arched his eye brows questioningly. "But you would've fired me." Was all she said.

"What?" he frowned.

"If you didn't need me, if you didn't want me here," Pause, "You would've fired me. You don't fool me Austin Moon, you want me here, you _need_ me here."

Austin chortled, "No, I really don't."

"Oh, but you do." Ally said, turning around fully and walking towards him. Austin shook his head. "You need me to run around like a little servant because you're too lazy to do it yourself." Ally got closer. "You need me to answer all of your calls, even your personal ones, because you can't be bothered to do it yourself." She was even closer now, standing directly in front of him, one more step and she would've been face to face with him. "You need me to disappoint all of your fans by myself, because you know that you're disappointing them, in fact, you've lost count on how many times you've disappointed them already." Finally, she took that last step, the plate in her hands grazing his sternum. "Wow, Austin, It must be _horrible_ to be so important that it stopped being _about the music_." Knowing very well she had his attention, she went on, "Because like I said, you don't fool me. I think you're a selfish, ungrateful pig who lost himself when he got swallowed _by so much damn pride_."

No smirk, no chuckle, no scoff, not a movement. He stared down at her. The first time his stare was actually really cold. This wasn't a facade, this wasn't a game. She had really done it. She had actually pissed him off. Her pink, beautifully-shaped lips didn't look so pretty anymore, they were a nuisance. Her big, brown eyes were intimidating and he saw she had enough integrity to let him see all the pity there.

"Oh, yeah?" he finally spat, "and who are you to tell me where I stand with music?" he questioned her, taking a step back, not wanting to be so close anymore.

All she did was give him a dry smile. "It looks like I have a task to do. Considering, you know, it's _my job_." she said.

Then Austin's eyes fell towards the centre of Ally's collarbone. He saw the silver, shiny object hanging on a beautiful, sparkling chain. It looked like a music note. He understood now. He looked back at her face and then smirked. He reached out and rubbed the music note, dangling around her neck. "Nice necklace," he said, "How does it feel to know you didn't make it?"

Ally's wry smile fell and she stared at him with a new found hatred. His smirk widened. She turned around on her heel and left the room quickly. He chuckled to himself, ruefully. Ally gripped the plate so tight in her hands she swore it would crack right in her palms. She muttered curses about him under her breath.

She was really starting to hate him.


	4. Chapter 4

Austin sat in front of a microphone. He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table as he tried hard to concentrate on what a reporter was asking him, but his thoughts were racing and jumbled together, fading out and wandering towards his new assistant.

He gritted his teeth together. Austin was good at not letting anybody's _personal opinions _get to him but he couldn't exactly put his finger on why Ally's mattered to him so much. He tried to rule it out: _Okay, she's an attractive young woman, of course her opinion mattered_ - No, that's not it. _He could've easily taken advantage of her, but with her bitter thoughts of him, it's harder and more frustrating to get her to swoon _- Gosh, darn it! That's not it either!

_Won't you swoon for Mr. Austin Moon? _

Apparently she won't.

"Yeah." Austin says, bluntly into the microphone, answering a stupid question that the reporter seemed to drag out but really could've kept it into a few simple words: _You like your job?_ He was tired of all the heartfelt, intriguing words they always snuck into each question. He wanted to bark at them to ask in a way that he actually understood.

Cassidy, his publicist, sits in the front row and gives him the eyeball. He bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing. What a funny, twisted thing - his publicist, whose job was to make him look good at all costs, had a deep hatred inside for him. It's amazing that she keeps herself from choking when she hears his name, he knows she wants to. It was a personality conflict between the two, but nothing neither of them couldn't handle. It's interesting that he's finding his own assistant dislikes him more than his publicist.

_And again with his scrawny, little assistant._

He glances over to where she's leaned up against the wall, typing viciously into an organizer. Austin quickly averts his gaze away before anybody can take a snapshot of his sneer.

"How's the album coming along? Any news on your third album?" asked a reporter, hurriedly.

"It's been a process. I'm still working on some songs with my writer. I can, however, tell you that it's going to be one hell of an album." Austin flashed a forced grin. They all scribble it into their notepads. Austin tries not to roll his eyes. He once enjoyed Press Conferences, loving everyone's interest in his music, but that was back when he was a naive fourteen to sixteen year old. Lately, it's been nothing but a hassle.

Cassidy shakes her head and tries not to face-palm herself. _Could he be anymore vague?! _Trish, who was standing to the right of Ally, cringes at Austin and requests Ally to grab her a coffee with a shuddering voice. If Austin continued to be any more apathetic during these conferences, nobody was going to care anymore, and if nobody cared about him anymore, he'd lose his job, and if he loses his job, Trish loses her job and if Trish loses her job - Oh, boy, she's going to hyperventilate.

Ally travels out the door and runs towards the kitchen. She tries to sneak things into her organizer as she makes the coffee. Just as she's turning to grab a Styrofoam coffee cup, her arms hits the container of coffee beans, causing it to lurch from the counter and spread all over the floor, little beans rolling in every direction. Ally let out a frustrated grunt.

"Well, don't hurt yourself in here."

Ally looked and saw Austin leaning against the door frame. A fire ignited in her gaze. "What?" she hissed. Austin lifted his arms in defense, a smirk on his face. "Aren't you supposed to be answering questions?"

"It's intermission." Austin said, wryly. He glanced over and saw a broom set against the wall. He grabbed it and tossed it towards her.

Thankfully, Ally had good reflexes and caught the broom before it could hit the floor. She sneered at him. "I appreciate the check-up on me. You can go now."

"Well, let's not get too carried away. I wanted a water, but now that you have the coffee beans everywhere, I'll take a coffee." Austin said, a smirk lined up nicely on his lips.

"You can get your water and leave." Ally growled.

"What's the fun in that?" Austin guffawed. Ally sighed. She got onto her feet and began sweeping the mess that was scattered all over the floor. She was so frustrated she could hear her heart inside her ears. Austin gabbed a dust pan and kneeled down in front of her, placing it in front of the broom to scoop up.

Ally stopped and looked at him. Austin gave another crooked smirk. "Isn't this a shock?" Ally muttered.

"I know how to help." Austin said.

"You're not helping." Ally said, kneeling down in front of him to take the pan. Austin looked at her as she grabbed it. "Either you want something or you want to insult me _or _you're going to tell me how to do my job." Ally said. She laughed without humor. "Which one did I get right?"

He shrugged. "Actually, I was genuinely going to help you, but now that you bring it up..." he trailed off and looked her in the eyes, even his brown orbs smirking at her, "the last one." Ally sighed, waiting for it. "But I'm not going to tell you how to do your job," he said gently, leaning closer to say even softer, "I'm just going to make sure you know that there's coffee mix in the cupboards." He flashed a mocking grin at her and got up off the floor.

Austin dusted his hands off, sliding his palms together. He walked off with a waltz, grinning to himself as he left the kitchen. Ally sat there on her knees as she took in what he'd just said. Coffee mix. In the cupboards. Why hadn't she thought to even look for something simpler?

Ally sighed. She got the mess cleaned up, brushing away the beans from the dust pan into the garbage. She took a deep breath, this time using the coffee mix, to make the coffees. She was sure Austin wasn't kidding when he said he wanted a coffee instead. After all, he was Austin Moon, the boy who seemed to enjoy making her miserable.

Ally checked her organizer before putting it into her pocket. She grabbed the two hot coffees and headed towards the conference. Trish had already grabbed the beverage before Ally could even hand it to her. Ally blinked twice, laughing slightly and then leaning against the wall, awaiting the conference to be over.

It wasn't long after that it was over and Austin snatched the coffee from her hands. He took a sip and glanced at her. He smirked. "Coffee mix."

_As if he could really tell the difference! _Ally thought sourly.

"We need to have a talk when we get back." Cassidy said, glaring at Austin as she marched away.

Austin rolled his eyes to himself, "What's she going to bitch about now? _My last name_?" he said, sarcastically to Trish. Trish sighed and shook her head.

"She means well, Austin." Trish said. Austin shook his head.

"I don't really care." he said, dryly. "Let's get out of here. I have to be at the studio early tomorrow. Ally, let's go." He turned sharply and followed after Cassidy. Ally stood there, taken aback that he actually wanted her to follow. Trish nudged Ally, silently ordering Ally to start following them.

**x**

Austin sat at the table, slouched in his seat as he prayed Cassidy's rant would be over soon. "Are you trying to ruin your career?" she questioned him.

"You'd like to see that, wouldn't you?" Austin said, mockingly.

"Austin Moon, I am serious!" Cassidy said, slamming her palms on the table. "Your attitude is the one thing that will take _all of this_," she gestured around the room wildly with her arms, "away from you!" she pointed a finger at him. Austin rolled his eyes. "Austin, are you even listening to me?!"

"No, not really." he replied honestly, giving her a crooked smirk. Cassidy sighed, throwing herself down in her seat in exasperation. She pinched the bridge of her nose and then folded her hands in front of her as she eyed him.

"Austin, you need to fix your attitude. You are holding on by your teeth right now." she warned him. "There's nothing I can say about you anymore. You are losing your fans and you're attitude isn't helping. Let's face it, you got famous too soon, too fast!"

"Let's face it!" Cassidy cried, continuing on, "You were a stupid overnight sensation! A dumb video on YouTube! You obviously weren't ready for any of this and you're proving it now. At one point, I really thought you were meant for this. I really, truly thought that you were that one in a million dreamer who made it! But you're not." she growled.

"You try to sit through those conferences and listen to everything they say! They don't even know what they're asking half the time!" Austin exclaimed, defending himself.

Trish was on one end of the table and Ally was on the other. The two watched Austin and his publicist bicker back and forth. Trish sighed. "Stop, stop, stop!" Trish chimed in. Austin looked over at Trish, ignoring Cassidy who was still glaring at him as she panted heavily.

"Look," Trish said, she turned to Austin, "Cassidy is right. You need to fix your attitude. You're not helping yourself and you'll be the reason that everyone, including yourself, loses their job. I know you have a lot of money, but you're management - not quite so much. We need this, you might not, _but we do_." Trish said, "You've been my best friend since you were twelve. I saw potential in you and I still see it, but you need to start pulling your load. We can't be saving your ass everytime. You go down, we go down with you, and not voluntarily."

Austin smirked at Trish, making her groan. "I appreciate the help, but I never asked for it."

Cassidy's face became red with anger, "Oh, you-"

"Stop!" Trish yelled, "Cassidy, sit! Austin, wipe the smirk off your face!" Trish took a deep breath, calming herself down before continuing, "Austin, maybe you don't want their help," Trish pointed between both Cassidy and Ally, "But I want you to think long and hard about everything I've done for you. In fact, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me."

Austin sighed, "Trish-"

"I was the one who was friends with your record dealer's daughter. I was the one who introduced you to Jimmy. I was the one who recommended you to this damn label. I showed them your video. I showed them what a big hit you'd become. Again, you might not need their help, but you sure as hell need mine." Trish stated.

"Do you understand, Austin?" Cassidy growled at him, finishing for Trish. "Hell, where would you be if it wasn't for Trish, not here! Where would you even be without me, still not here! Maybe Ally doesn't seem so important to you right now considering you are so _obsessed _with yourself, but you're going to need her, too."

"That was deep, Cass." Austin said, mockingly. Trish sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. It wasn't possible to get through to him.

"That's so sad." Cassidy finally said, "It's so sad that you're surrounded by so many people who want to see you live your dream, it's sad that you're surrounded by fans who devote their lives to you, and you can't even stay still long enough to say thank you. _That's sad_."

Austin never replied, but once again rolled his eyes.

"Austin," Trish sighed, "Your songwriter quit."

Well, that was really all it took for him to sit up straight and focus in on the conversation for real this time. "I'm sorry...He...what?!" Austin growled.

"He quit." Cassidy said flatly, "But that is what happens when you treat people with disrespect. Who knows, maybe I'll have the guts to go next." Cassidy shrugged.

"Cassidy." Trish silenced her. She looked at Austin. "Your songwriter quit this morning. We're literally all you got right now until we can fix this mess." Trish sighed for the one hundredth time that night. "You're probably going to want to release one song from your upcoming album so your fans don't go into a state of depression, or worse, forget about you."

"They won't forget about me." Austin stated confidently.

"Yeah?" Cassidy said, "Interesting. Because you do it to them so easily."

With that, Cassidy left the room. Trish looked at Austin, seeing the lost expression on his face. "Talk to Jimmy about releasing a song and that will give us enough time to find somebody for you. Everything will be fine."

"Is that why we had this conversation?" Austin asked, "Is that why you two are so mad?" Trish slowly nodded. "What are we going to tell Jimmy?" Austin wondered out loud.

"He knows. The entire management knew." Trish said, gently.

Austin looked at her incredulously, "So, everyone knew but me?" Austin questioned, a muscle in his jaw ticked. Trish slowly nodded. "Why didn't you say anything, Trish? Before I blabbed on about this stupid album that's probably not even going to come out now!"

"I was hoping that we would get him back, but he sure he didn't want to do this anymore. Don't worry, Austin, I'll get somebody new." Trish said. She got up and left the room.

Ally looked at Austin. She could tell, through his hard exterior, Austin did really love his career without a doubt. He, perhaps, had just done what she always assumed; lost himself in his pride. Karma really is an awful thing to find yourself trapped with.

"What are you still doing here?" Austin growled at Ally.

"Right." she mumbled, getting up from her chair. "Trish will figure it out. I'm sure of it."

"Don't pretend to care, Ally Dawson." Austin said with a grieved tone. "I've lost too much and I don't need that."

She looked at him. "I wasn't."

Austin looked at her, slightly startled, slightly annoyed. "Go home, Ally."

Ally nodded her head. One side of her wanted to leave with a dry remark, the other side of her kind of wanted to kiss his forehead.


	5. Chapter 5

_There's a change in pressure_

_I'm never gonna lie to you_

_My broken veins say _

_that if my heart stops beating_

_we'll bleed the same way_

_My broken veins say_

Ally shook her head, sitting on the other side of the recording studio, a large glass window separating herself from Austin.

"I'm never gonna lie to you." Ally scoffed under her breath. An interesting line really, considering Austin lies to his fans every morning he wakes up. The man beside her didn't seem to hear her incoherent muttering, unless he was ignoring her. His stubby fingers messed with buttons on the soundboard in front of him.

The click of a door opening grabbed Ally's attention. She turned on her chair and her eyes opened a little bit wider than their original doe size. The dark man standing in the doorway made her heart trip. Ally cleared her throat, shaking up her fantasying thoughts on the rich man who she has only dreamed about meeting since Day 1. The man who was supposed to make her dreams come true.

"You must be Ally Dawson." The darker man smiled, showing pearly white teeth. He walks towards her with a swing in his step, outstretching his hand.

Ally didn't have to force a smile meeting Jimmy Starr, the man who she's only dreamed about signing her. She thought about pinching herself - she had decided to drop her dream about becoming a musician. This was her job now and it was as close to the music industry that she was going to get, she might as well accept it.

Ally grabbed his hand, giving it a firm shake. "I am." she said.

"I've heard good things about you." Jimmy said, thoughtfully. Ally smiled in return. Jimmy neared her, standing in front of the window and watching his musician. "How are you liking my talented boy?" he questioned.

Ally nodded stiffly, "He's _great_." She hoped it didn't come out as a growl.

Jimmy nodded, his eyes catching Austin's for a quick moment before Austin continued to sing with his soul. "He may be difficult to work with but he's the best musician I've ever signed. No regrets."

"I guess not." Ally replied.

Finally, Austin took off his head phones, dismissing his band with the flick of his finger in the air. The immediately scrambled around as Austin made his way through the door, joining Jimmy and Ally.

Jimmy looked at his musician, "So, what's this about releasing a song?"

Austin sighed, shaking his head as he looked down at his feet. "Jeremy quit. I guess he's decided he doesn't want to write for me anymore. Trish said it'll be best if I release a song to buy us some time to find a new writer."

Jimmy's eyes grew slightly, staring at the star incredulously, "You lost Jeremy? Our best writer in the business?" Jimmy's voice got slightly louder.

Ally awkwardly looked at her lap and then focused on Austin's face. His jaw was set and his eyes were colder. He genuinely looked fed up with everything, with everyone. She silently wondered how it felt to know everything that was going wrong was really his fault. She also wondered if he'd ever admit it or not.

"You say it like it was my fault, Jimmy." Austin said, keeping his voice as void of emotion as possible.

_Nope, definitely won't admit it_, thought Ally.

"Tell me that I'm wrong and that it wasn't your fault." Jimmy said.

"Okay," Austin shrugged, "It wasn't my fault. Jeremy got tired of his job and quit."

Jimmy shook his head, running a hand over his face. "Austin, Jeremy was your best shot. He's been your writer since you were sixteen, after you fired your first one."

"Ah," Austin lifted a finger, "My first writer didn't have what I was looking for, my taste changed and he didn't agree with me, his disappearance really was my fault. As for Jeremy, that was his own choice. His loss. This album could've made him some good money."

"Your attitude has-"

"-Been way out of line, I've heard it all." Austin rolled his eyes, he waved his hand dismissively, "Trish will get things sorted. I'll have a new writer in no time. According to Cassidy, I have many writers itching to work with me."

"But none have what Jeremy had." Jimmy ground out. "I won't have just any writer for you, Austin. You need the best of the best. You are at the top of everything, you always have been, and we're not letting you come down from such a high level. You've already been waning enough as it is."

"Ally, Go." Austin dismissed, glancing sideways towards her. "I expect a coffee by the time we leave."

"Yes." she squeaked, getting up from her seat. At least Austin bought her a ticket out of the tense room, she might thank him later for that. The man working with the soundboard took his leave with Ally, following behind her. Nobody wanted to be left in that room with Jimmy and Austin. Even Austin's band had already left.

Once the door had been shut and Ally was no longer in the room, Jimmy looked at Austin. "You better hope she stays, boy."

Austin folded his arms in front of his chest, leaning back on the counter behind him. He rolled his eyes heavenward. "You're a little late; Trish has already warned me."

"You best listen to her, because if that girl leaves, I just might take back on your record deal." Jimmy threatened. Austin's eyes widened and he stood up straight. "You losing so many staff says a lot about you, Austin Moon, and I can't have that kind of musician on my label."

"Jimmy-"

"-We will release this song as I see it's been recorded. I'm hoping this will stall your fans long enough until we can find you an experienced and professional songwriter. You better not lose Ally within this time." Jimmy said.

"Oh, I won't." Austin smirked. "She needs this job."

Jimmy sighed, "I'm dismissing you, Austin. I wish you good luck on finding a writer that can actually replace Jeremy." Jimmy turned, leaving the recording booth.

Austin sighed, shaking his head. He rubbed his head, miserably. He could feel his career spinning out of control. He went from having such a laid back career, to having it crumbling right inside his palms. He glanced out the opened door and saw Ally holding his coffee in one hand, and using her other hand to text on her phone. He sighed again.

**x**

"Well, Ally, this is what an Austin Moon concert looks like." Cassidy said.

Ally smiled slightly. She had never been to a concert before. She never had the time or even the money. The last concert she had actually gone to was when she was six, when her mom had taken her, but she hardly remembers that. Her father had always forced her to work in his music store since as long as she can remember. Her mom stopped seeing her a long time ago, after the divorce, she had disappeared, leaving Ally nothing but a wedding ring and a silly note on her bedspread. At least Ally had her mother's lipstick stuck on her forehead when she'd woken up. But lipstick doesn't ease the pain of abandonment.

Ally glanced around the concrete walls, her eyes scanning over the hurrying bodies that rushed passed her, yelling out schedules. It might smell like coffee and sweat back here, but it was like a dream come true. A _shattered _dream come true.

Once again, she slipped into a fantasy of _what if this could've been for her_? She shakes it off, again. She really needed to stop going there. This was her job. This was her job. This was her stupid job.

Suddenly, Trish came barreling out one of the doors. She would've looked nice in her suit and heels if she hadn't of had that stressed look on her face. Ally could see a vein bulging at her temple. "Has either of you seen Austin?"

"I thought he's been with Ally?" Cassidy frowned, looking at Ally who shook her head.

"I thought he's been with you." Ally said, nodding towards Trish who shook her head, scrubbing her fingers through her gelled curls. She grunted in frustration.

"This boy will be the end of me!" she howled to the two girls. "I haven't seen him all afternoon! He's missed sound checks before, we've always worked around it, but he's normally always here..." Trish trailed off to take a sneak peek at her watch, "thirty minutes before the show!"

"Relax, Trish," Cassidy told her, "I'll send people to find him. Ally, go find Austin, get everyone to look for him." Cassidy said, taking off.

Ally looked at Trish, "We'll find him." Ally said, turning on her heels to walk away.

"Ally," Trish called.

Ally looked over her shoulder at Trish, "Yes?"

"Can you bring me a coffee? I need one to bring down my stress." Trish said. Ally slowly nodded. "Oh, and Ally," she called again, "You're doing really good." Trish smiled genuinely, watching as Ally's lips curled upwards, too, "The best assistant we've had. You're on top of everything and you always know how to stay relaxed in moments like these. You're the kind of person we need around here."

Ally laughed slightly, "I'll get your coffee after I find Austin."

Ally walked off, travelling down the halls. She tapped shoulders, begged that somebody had seen him, she checked her watch, and peeked inside several rooms. Cassidy had texted her eight times declaring that Austin was no where to be found. If Ally had been sitting, she'd be on the edge of her seat right now.

She made it down the narrow hallways. She could hear the crowds shouting for Austin through the concrete walls and it made her feel like tearing her hair out. They were down to twenty minutes now. There was no way Ally could get him changed and ready in time.

Ally knocked on his dressing room door, turning the knob and marching in. "Austin!" she called, looking around but the room was empty. She was starting to make a list in her mind of all the things Austin was selfishly doing wrong, things Ally would never dream about doing. Not showing up to his own concert was one of those things.

Ally peeked in his bathroom, but it was also vacant. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. Ally opened the door in a rush, ready to start bolting down the halls, but as she opened the door and readied for a sprint, she bumped into a hard chest.

She stumbled back to take a look at the attacker who was barging into Austin's room. Her eyes found broad shoulders, then a confused face, and then, finally, the blonde hair. "Austin." Ally growled, out of breath.

"Ally," Austin's lips curled loosely into a grin, "What are you doing in my room?"

"Where have you been?" she hissed, shoving his chest. "We've been looking everywhere for you! We're down to fifteen minutes now! You are on in fifteen minutes and you're just showing up now - Are you drunk?" Ally asked him, taking a giant step back.

"Tipsy." he corrected, smirking at her.

"Austin, you can't be tipsy! You have to perform!" Ally shrieked.

He rolled his eyes, "I've performed drunk before." Austin told her. His lips twisted into another lazy grin, "Best time I ever had. But then I threw up on Trish." he crinkled his nose. "I don't have a strong stomach."

"Good to know, we have to get you on stage!" Ally exclaimed. Ally turned to grab him his clothes when his palm locked around her wrist, twisting her towards him. She looked at him. "What are you doing?"

"You're in my room." he smirked at her, bringing her closer. Ally tensed. He let out a giddy laugh, releasing her. "Do I make you nervous, Ally?"

She slowly looked up at his eyes. "Now that you've told me about the time you puked on Trish, yes." she said softly, hardly being able to find her voice.

He chuckled to himself, grin widening. "You're cute," he told her, "It's too bad that you're my assistant. We'd be good together."

"Get your clothes on." she demanded, going towards the chair that his clothes were set on and throwing them at him. He caught them as they hit his chest.

He smirked, "You'd prefer them off now, wouldn't you?"

Ally turned towards him. "No, I wouldn't. Now get off your high horse and respect your fans for once in your goddamn life." she spat. He stared down at her, eye brows pulling together. "You might think you're hot and high in all of your glory, but a musician who respects his fans, wouldn't do this to them. He wouldn't get drunk before a show, he would get ready for the show, because he'd want the best show to give them, because he'd want them happy, because they mean a lot, because they devote every second thinking about him and he wants to make their night. He doesn't sit on his ass to drink and feel sorry for himself. Everything that happens to you, has always been your fault and unless you change something, it will always be your fault."

"You don't know a damn thing about me, Dawson." Austin growled in a tone she'd never heard him use before.

"I don't have to know you to tell you that what you're doing is wrong." Ally said. "Lay off the stupid remarks and cocky smirks, would you? I know this career means something to you, _now do something about it_." Ally snapped.

Ally began leaving his room when he grabbed her arm, stopping her. She sighed. She looked down at her arm where his grip was tightly wrapped around and then looked up at him. _He was crying._

She pulled her arm from his grip, not tearing her eyes from his. "People here do a lot for you so you can live out the one thing you've dreamed about since you were a kid, and those fans out there, you wouldn't be here without them either, they're the ones who love you endlessly, through absolutely anything. They're the ones who have stayed here when nobody else did. You go out there and you put on a show, and I swear to God Austin Moon, you better get yourself lost in the music."

She slipped past him, but before she could leave the room completely, she heard him call, "And will you?"

"Will I what?" she pressed, exasperated as she looked at his backside. He didn't turn around to face her.

"Will you stay?" he asked her.

She was a little bit thrown off by his question, but she didn't waver from where she was standing. All she said was, "I have no where else to go."

She left after that, only the sound of her heels clicking in the distance on the concrete floors. Austin stood there in the door way, very aware that he most likely had less than ten minutes to get ready. It was like Ally had just drained all the alcohol that was left in his body. He suddenly felt tired, and oddly enough, defeated, in his own way.

Austin wasn't sure of a lot of things ever since he was given all of the bad news about his crumbling career, but there was two things he was absolutely sure of since Ally showed up: One being that he had never saw her coming, and the second being that he would never be the same.


	6. Chapter 6

Something blaring woke Ally up in the night.

The sleepy brunette rolled over in her fortress of puffy blankets. She slapped the dresser with a weak palm, searching for her phone. She grabs onto it and slides her thumb across the screen. She lifted the device to her ear and, being so tired, nearly forgot to speak up.

"Hello?" she groaned.

She hears a sigh, a groan, a grunt. One of three, or perhaps, an entire combination. "Ally." the person on the other end only has enough thought to say her name.

Ally rubs her forehead, thin eyebrows knitting together into a tired frown. "Erm, Yeah?" Not exactly the most polite way to answer a phone call. Ally had to concentrate hard to not let herself fall back to sleep. Through her eyes that were opened into thin slits, she glances at the glow of her clock that reads something like _2:46 or 3:46. _Without her contacts, seeing what time it really was became rather complicated. Either way, it was late and she was still tired.

Another sigh. "Ally, I need your help."

Suddenly, Ally was aware of the background seeping through the phone call. The sound of intercoms, telephones ringing, metal wheels turning on hard floors, several voices. It took her a moment, before she finally said, "Austin?"

"Yeah, It's me." he rasped, his voice lower.

Ally reaches over, turning on a lamp. The brightness makes her eyes ache, but at least she wasn't as tired as she had been. "What are you..."

"Ally, I really need your help." he repeated, reluctantly. She couldn't tell if he sounded tired, annoyed, or disappointed, but he definitely wasn't his witty self.

"With what?" Ally questioned.

He grunted just as another sigh followed. "I got into an accident. I'm at the hospital. I need you to come pick me up." he said, urgently.

Ally sat up, "You...You what?"

"You heard me." he hissed under his breath, obviously not feeling the need to repeat it, or most likely, not _wanting _to repeat it. "The doctor discharged me. I'm at the door."

"What? But..Austin, it's late." Ally said, unsure exactly of how to respond to this. Was she supposed to pick him up? Was she supposed to call somebody else? Did she even know where the hospital was?

"Ally, come on," Austin said. He glanced back and noticed a few people staring at him. He turned away quickly, leaning against the payphone and clutching the phone tightly. "I just need a ride back. It'll be quick, I promise."

"What were you doing driving this late?" Ally questioned.

"Doesn't matter," he snapped at her, "Come and get me."

"No." Ally said flatly. "It's late. Call somebody else, maybe a friend will be willing to pick you up."

"No." he let out a desperate sigh, "Nobody can know about this. This is between you and me." Austin replied. Ally frowned with confusion. "My career is already going through the drain and if anybody else finds out about this, it'll be the straw that broke the camel's back." he paused. "None of my friends are available, and I need to get out of here before somebody sees me. People are already staring."

"How bad was it?" Ally questioned, reaching for her glasses.

"Nothing serious. Just a few scratches here and there." Austin said.

"Were you intoxicated?" Ally asked.

"Was I...?Ally, stop with the stupid questions and come pick me up!" Austin growled.

"Were you or were you not intoxicated?" Ally repeated her question.

"No! No, I wasn't intoxicated! Damn it, Ally, I just need you to pick me up. Please." Austin said. He sighed as he leaned his forehead against the payphone. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose.

"I'll be a few minutes." Ally muttered.

Austin opened his eyes. "Thank you." he breathed just as she hung up the phone. He slammed the phone back onto the receiver.

Ally rolled out of her bed, tiredly. It wasn't like she wanted to pick Austin up and she could very well just roll back into bed and sleep, leave him there to sit inside his own mess, but Ally's father had raised her to always be the better person. She was going to face it, too; there was no way she could fall asleep knowing that somebody needed her help.

Maybe this was even a part of her job, following the long, dragging list of other things that she's apparently in charge of. This job was not light, she was so glad she had a decent paycheck.

**. . . **

Austin must've been waiting for her appearance eagerly. She had hardly stopped the car when he had pushed himself out the doors. She tapped her fingers on the wheel impatiently. She sighed as she watched him walk towards the car with a limp and a sling on his arm. "Just a few scratches." she mumbled mockingly.

He snapped the door open and pushed himself inside her car. "Go." he ordered.

Ally rolled her eyes and looked at him. He stared forward, obviously not intending for any conversation between the two of them. "What happened?" Ally asked him as she pulled away from the hospital.

"You know what happened," he replied slyly, "I got into an accident."

Ally rolled her eyes. "Tell me _how _it happened."

Austin sighed with irritation."What does it matter?" He pulled off his sling, throwing it into the backseat. Ally looked over at him, stunned as he grabbed onto his shoulder and started rolling it in circles, flinching as he did so. When it seemed that he had fixed his shoulder on his own, he sat up straight again.

He watched the city pass them by. Ally didn't seem too impressed with him. He didn't imagine she would be. Ally shook her head, turning off the radio. He glanced in the mirror. "You're holding up the other cars. Speed up, would you?"

"If they're in such a hurry, they can go around me. There's lots of space." Ally told him. "Just tell me, Austin."

He was silent for a moment, staring out his window at the dark night. "It's just not that important, Ally. I drove through a red light and some idiot hit the end of my car. That's it."

"If you say so." Ally mumbled.

"You can't tell anybody about this." Austin told her.

"I won't." Ally rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they'll figure it out anyways with that limp."

Austin shook his head, rolling his eyes at her. "I don't have time for this. Shut up, will you?"

"Where do you live?" Ally muttered. Austin gave her the address and the rest of the car ride was silent, apart from the small sighs here and there from the both of them.

Austin was staring out the window when he realized she missed a turn. He frowned in confusion. "What are you doing?" he quizzed, "This isn't where I live."

"I know," Ally sighed, "Because it's where I live. Your apartment is way on the other side of the city. Why don't you just crash at my place for the rest of the night? We're already here."

When the car came to a stop, Austin looked at the cutesy apartment building. He shook his head. "I want to go home."

Annoyed, Ally growled, "Then walk." She tore off her seatbelt, taking the keys out of the ignition and slammed her car door.

Austin's frown deepened. He jumped out of the car. "What the hell, Ally?" he called out to her.

Ally turned around, giving him a shrug as she continued to walk backwards, "It's just an offer. All you have to do is take it." she said. He watched her as she turned around. She called over her shoulder, "Third floor, Apartment 303 if you change your mind!"

Austin sighed angrily. He wanted to go home. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to sink into the floor and stay like that. He was exhausted, annoyed, frustrated with life and now his stupid, little assistant agrees to take him home just to take him to her place. She isn't serious, is she? She doesn't really think he should stay? Obviously she does considering she's already inside.

Austin stood outside, leaning back on her car as he drifted through thoughts. Everything that had happened that night. The drive, the accident, the hospital stay, Ally pulling up to help him instead of just leaving him hanging. He looked up at the sky, seeing the stars aligned into the Big Dipper. He counted his blessings for a moment. Ally might've been one. Austin muttered something incoherent under his breath. He reached into the car, pressing the lock button and slammed the door.

He hadn't realized how cold he was until he was in the elevator and the warmth of it made his skin tingle. He stares at the giant, glowing three until the elevator dings and the doors open. He glanced around but sees the hallway is vacant. Something he wasn't used to. He could finally relax. No camera, no fans.

His feet stay planted in front of Apartment 303 for a while. He wasn't sure for how long, but it was long enough that he finally rapped softly on the door. He waited a couple beats and then the brunette opened the door.

She gave him a tight smile, "You could've slept in the car if it was such a big deal."

He rolled his eyes, not cracking a smile or smirk. He barged into her room reluctantly, his steps slow and begrudging. Ally shook her head when his shoulder brushed hers roughly. She shut the door after him. Austin looked around. It was a small apartment, but it really didn't bother him. Instead, he found the small amount of space comforting and cozy.

"Where do I stay?" he questioned her dryly, giving her mocking look.

"The floor, the couch, the counter. I don't really care. There's a blanket on the sofa." Ally said, "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Thank you, Ally."

It must've been the lack of sleep that made him sound sincere. He wasn't fully in his right mind. She still looked at him and nodded. "Yeah." she mumbled, not quite sure why she was letting him stay here. She blamed it on being lazy and not wanting to drive the extra mile.

Ally stood there a moment, both of them just aimlessly gazing at one another. He seemed rather aloof. She felt curiosity burning her insides. Finally, she blurted, "Did something happen?"

Austin stared at her a long moment before he shook his head, but he mustn't have been very convincing because she stayed put in her spot. He wanted to snap at her, or growl, or smirk but he just couldn't. Maybe he was too tired. Of everything.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

"It's not important." Austin finally said. He walked towards the window ledge, brushing his fingers along with the window pane."I figured out what I needed to figure out."

"And what was that?" Ally asked him.

He wasn't sure why she cared. "Nothing worth this talk," he said, sending her a sly grin but when she continued to watch his every move, he looked away and added, "I needed to feel something, and I did."

Ally frowned at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

He stared out her wide windows, focusing on the city lights and silhouettes of cars on the streets. There was a long beat of silence. "You know, Ally, I've driven through hundreds of red lights and nothing ever happens. Absolutely nothing. Except for tonight." he said. "I guess it could've been worse. Tonight wasn't like the other times, though. This time, I regretted it."

Ally looked at him. "What are you saying...You...You did it on purpose? You intended to drive through that light?"

"It made more sense at the time." Austin responded, not turning to look at her yet. She wondered if maybe it was because city lights intrigued him, or perhaps, the conversation was too emotional for him.

"Austin..." Ally said, softly.

"Don't." he told her, "I know what you're thinking and it's not that. I wasn't trying to... end myself." he assured her, still staring blankly out the window. Ally watched him, restraining the urge to stand next to him. "I've done it before. Like I said, hundreds of times, but I could never...I never felt anything. Then tonight happened, and I felt something."

"Good. That means you're not ready to go yet." she said.

"I'm not suicidal, Ally." Austin replied, laughing softly. She didn't know why he was laughing.

"But you-"

"-I'm calling it a test." Austin said.

"A dangerous one." Ally said. "Your career might be hitting a bump in the road, but it will pick up again. It's nothing to act recklessly over, Austin."

"Why was tonight so different?" he asked out loud, ignoring her last statement.

"I don't know, but I'm glad it was." Ally said gently. "Maybe you should take a break from work. Sort through some things. Maybe you-"

"-I can't." Austin said, "Jimmy's having a party for another one of his musicians. I'm supposed to attend. Besides, I enjoy work. I took time away from work once, it ended badly. Me in the hospital actually." Finally, he looked at her, "I literally went nuts." A slight grin peeked on his face, showing that it was clearly a joke but Ally found some truth behind it.

"Ally," Austin said after a moment, "If my career ends...I will have literally lost everything."

"It won't end." Ally said.

He looked back at her again, "Are you one of those _the-glass-is-always-half-full _types?"

She cracked a smile, "You could say that."

She kind of liked this Austin. This Austin that she knew wouldn't last long and was probably only visible because he had a lot going on in his mind, and he was tired, and a little bit desperate due to his career's circumstances.

"You know, maybe...maybe you shouldn't be alone tonight." Ally bit her lip, fidgeting with her fingers. She didn't know what else to say, but she knew that she would never sleep knowing everything that he had just told her.

"I don't mind." Austin said.

"Maybe you should tell Trish what happened. She's your manager, and your friend. I know that she's pretty understanding, too, and-"

"-No," Austin said, giving Ally a serious look, "This is between me and you. Me and you only. Okay?"

Ally slowly nodded. She wanted to feel touched that he trusted her enough to tell her the truth about what happened, but she couldn't feel touched. She was just, perhaps, worried, confused even. He watched her for a moment before looking away. "Do you want something to eat or drink?" Ally asked him.

He shook his head. "I'd rather just sleep." he told her. She carefully nodded again, but didn't move. When Austin didn't hear her walking away, he looked over. "You can go." he dismissed.

Ally nodded her head again. She wasn't too disappointed. She knew the Austin she had just seen was going to be short-lived, and most likely, would never be seen again. She finally stepped away from him and headed back to her room, closing the door behind her.

**x**

Ally was in the kitchen, watching the pancake batter in silver bowl glob together when her cell phone rang. "Hello?" she said.

"Ally!" Cassidy was on the other line, frantic. Ally frowned, but before she could ask what was wrong, Cassidy was already shrieking, "We can't find, Austin! His car is...his car is gone! He's not at his place! He's not answering his cell phone!"

Ally froze. She peered over her shoulder, looking towards the living room where Austin was still sleeping soundly on the couch. "Oh...?" she cringed as it slipped out. Ally opened her mouth to elaborate when she recalled Austin's request that she kept this to herself.

"What are we going to do? He...He took off! He just left! He has money, he could've taken himself somewhere! He could've jumped on a flight and taken off to...to Zimbabwe!"

"Zimbabwe?" Ally echoed, scrunching her nose.

"Who knows!" Cassidy cried, "We have to find him! He can't just leave! When the going gets tough, he can't quit! He has people depending on him! Devoted fans! The management! Aspiring artists! He-"

"-Cassidy." Ally said, calmly, "Relax."

"Relax? Relax?! Ally, I know you've only been here a month and a half, but do you realize what a sticky situation we are in? Do you realize-"

"-Cassidy." Ally said more firmly, silencing her. "It's alright. I'm...I'm with him right now."

Cassidy was quiet for a good five seconds, before replying, "You're with him?"

"Yes...His...Um, he was out late last night and I guess somebody hit his car while it was parked and it had to be towed. He called me, um, this morning and I had to pick him up. I'm getting us some...some coffee." Ally said, glancing heavenward as she prayed her story was believable.

"Oh...Oh." Cassidy said, blinking twice. "Where was his car that somebody hit it?" Cassidy wondered.

"I wouldn't know. I didn't ask questions. He just demanded I picked him up and got him coffee." Ally said, mentally relaxing as she realized that her story could possibly just work.

"Oh, Well then." Cassidy muttered, "Pardon my...you know."

Ally laughed slightly, "I know."

"Why didn't he answer his phone?" Cassidy asked, before Ally replied, she said, "Well, I guess he never answers his phone. Thanks, Ally. You're one of the best assistants we've hired. Please, never quit."

Ally laughed, "Alright."

Ally hung up the phone after Cassidy and let out a breath of relief. Suddenly, Austin sat up from where he was sitting and looked at Ally. "That was smooth." he said.

Ally glared at him, "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough." he smirked. He took a whiff of the air and something brightened in his dark irises. "Is that...pancakes?" he questioned.

"Yeah, do you want some?" Ally offered. A shade fell over his eyes making Ally's eyes narrow with confusion.

"No." he snapped. "No, I don't."

"Well, you don't-"

"-Why did you even bring me?" he interrupted, getting off of the couch and looking around for his jacket. He cringed from his sore shoulder and rubbed it. He looked back at Ally, a cold gaze focused on her.

"Nothing's changed from what I said last night: Your apartment was on the other side of the city and we were already at my place." Ally said, firmly.

"I don't need your help and I sure as hell don't need you to start caring for me now." Austin growled at her, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he tugged on his jacket.

"Who said that I did?" Ally hissed, her eyes colder now, "And as I recall it, _you _were the one who asked for _my _help."

"The circumstances were tight." he said, wryly. Ally shook her head. "Get dressed. I'm due for a meet and greet in two hours."

Ally knew, being his ride, Austin wasn't leaving anytime soon. She glared at him, dropping the spoon into the batter and walking off to her room to get ready for the day. He was so aggravating. There was a small connection made, but Ally could tell that now Austin had just killed it, fried the wires to any connection they could've had.

He was exasperating.

xx

**i really didn't like this chapter but i'm tired of rewriting it. **


	7. Chapter 7

Austin sat there in the chair, staring at his face in the mirror. The woman behind him fixed where his hair flopped in front of his eyes. She glanced at him in the mirror every now and then. Once upon a time, she used to even smile at him, but lately, her lips are nothing but a straight line.

She takes a step back, looks it over and gives his reflection a nod. "You're good." She collects her things and leaves the room. Austin thinks he hears her mutter a comment of relief but he brushes it off, convincing himself that she said nothing of the sort.

He stands up in the chair and walks towards the pile of clothing Ally had left for him neatly on a chair. Ally wasn't somebody he wanted to lift on high, but he couldn't deny that she just seemed to simply always know how to do things right. He won't even elaborate on that, anyone with two eyes can see it.

Ally was almost too-perfect, the kind that makes your fists curl and your palms become tattooed with bloody-half moons marked by your finger nails, but then the kind that sometimes makes you feel like laughing.

Ally. She was bittersweet to him.

He finishes the last button on his shirt and fixes his pants so they sit just right on his hips. He stares at himself for only God knows how long and silently wonders about a songwriter. Jeremy would come back, right? And even if he doesn't, Trish has got him covered, doesn't she? Both questions don't have fixed answers. He's not going to kid himself anymore, Jeremy isn't coming back and Trish is one of his close friends and a great manager, who he is blessed to have, but not even Trish can guarantee him a new songwriter. His career was in limbo, a place it's never been before.

A small click makes him turn around. Speak of the angel-devil as she walks in, dressed in a cute, silky red dress. It wasn't necessary to invite Ally to a silly album release party, but just like everyone else Ally's seemed to charm, Jimmy was another that's fallen under her angelic spells. Austin swore to God he never will. She might be cute, she might do everything so right, she might be a blessed man's daydream, but he will swallow his tongue before he dares to sink into her wonders.

If she had any. Oh, wait, she has plenty.

"Are you ready?" she questioned him. Austin was seconds from a reply, or more likely, a witty comment, when Ally sighed and came towards him. "Leave it to you to be incompetent to button your shirt properly."

He grabs her hands when she reaches for the first button. "I don't need you to babysit me." he told her, his voice covered in a thin layer of ice.

Ally narrowed her eyes at him, cocking her head to the side at a small angle as she silently challenging him. "I beg to differ." He released her wrists.

He frowned down at her as she unbuttoned his shirt. The frown lifts and contorts into a wolfish smirk. He's kind of liking this. A pretty girl unbuttoning his shirt. The words jump out of his mouth before he has time to stop them, as if he ever would stop them. "Well, Ally, you don't need an excuse to undress me."

"Oh, Austin," she peers at him from beneath her eye lashes, "You sure caught me." Her hands yank by the collar of his shirt, straightening it out. She starts with the first button, this time aligning them to go through the right holes.

His hands wrap around her wrists again. He claimed to never fall for her wonders, he didn't mention anything about her falling for his so he yanks her closer. Her fingers stagger off of the button she'd been working on and her palms lay flat on his chest, feeling the throbs of his thick heartbeat.

Ally looks up at him, "Do you mind?" she said.

"Oh, Come on." he crooned, slyly. Ally gave him a tight smile and twists her arms towards where his thumbs were, wrenching her wrists out of his grasp. Her father was a good self-defense teacher. It doesn't matter how strong or big somebody else's hands are around your wrists, if you twist towards the thumbs and pull up, they're bound to let go. The thumb really isn't the strongest thing out there.

Ally holds his stare for a moment until looking down to his buttons again, continuing her job. Austin rolled his eyes. When she's finished the buttons, she reaches up for the collar and Austin grabs her wrists again. "Stop." he tells her, looking her in the eyes.

Ally lazily looks up at him about to reply something testy, but his eyes are a different shade. She carefully nods and takes a step back. He stares at her for a moment before turning back to the mirror and fixing his collar himself.

"Is there something wrong?" Ally questioned him. His gaze was stale as it finds her reflection in the mirror. He shakes his head, lips quirking a smirk. Ally glances away from his reflection to his real being standing next to her, she then looks back to his reflection in the mirror. He's still watching her.

"Red looks nice on you." Austin said.

The compliment is enough to make her blush, but she warily wipes it off her ego before any blushing is allowed to take effect. Ally avoids eye contact and tugs on the sleeves of her dress that reach just below her elbows, then her palms slide down the front of her dress. The bottom of it reaches her knees, she hoped that wasn't too short.

Austin watches her, his lips slanted in a way that looks caught between a crooked grin and a crooked smirk. It's unsure to label which it really is. He blurts, "Didn't mean to make you nervous."

Ally looked up at him, this time not pegging for the reflection. The brightness of her red dress was giving her a headache. "Our ride's waiting for us."

_Well, at least she didn't deny it._

_**x**_

The rides not very silent. Austin wanted to be treated with quiet time as he sorted through his racing thoughts over his career that is folding up like a horribly designed paper airplane, but Cassidy seemed really interested in telling Ally about the date she had last night.

"Poor guy, dealing with somebody like you." Austin flashes a smirk at Cassidy.

"I can't say anything, can I?" Cassidy replies curtly. Austin gives her a dry look.

"How about you, Austin?" Trish suddenly blurts, "Any women in your life?"

Austin laughed dryly. "After Kira? Can't say there has been apart from a few meaningless kisses here and there."

Kira Starr, Jimmy Starr's impossible-to-work-with daughter, happened to be one of the lucky girls that got tangled in Austin's thoughts. She was pretty and she was an award-winning actress. Kira also knew how to charm a boy with her white teeth and godly smile. She was as dazzling as her name.

Not only was Kira Starr good at chewing up boys and spitting them out, but she was also excellent at making a statement. Austin had made the glorious mistake of ending his "teen romance" with the very famous star. No warning signs, no threats. In fact, according to Kira, things were going great and they had been madly in love (Austin wasn't sure why she'd thought that) until Austin just put on the breaks and tossed her heart out the windshield.

Of course, Austin planned on keeping their break-up to themselves, but it seemed that Kira had other plans. She kept it short and simple, right to the point: The media knew by the next morning. It was a tell-all tale sob-story about how the famous boy tore her heart out. She's made small digs at him every now and again throughout interviews and award shows, mocking him in all the ways she knows how.

Moral of the story: Never date, or mess, with very famous actresses. (But at least her father never held anything against him.)

"Well, Maybe it is best you aren't in any relationships right now, anyways. Considering, well, you know..." Trish trailed off, cussing at herself for bringing it up.

"Not to mention, It really will save me all the trouble." Cassidy added.

"It's not always about you, Cass." Austin smirked over at her. Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"That sounds strange coming from you." Cassidy replied as Ally started snickering. A smirk lifted on Cassidy's lips at the reaction of her humored audience.

Austin glanced over to Ally. "Something funny, Ally?" he questioned.

"Yeah. Me." Cassidy butt in, smugly. Ally cleared her throat and looked out the window. She saw the building for the album release party. She silently thanked God for saving her. "Oh, God, we're here." Cassidy moaned. She turned to Austin. "Now, no drinking, no making a fool out of yourself. I need one night where I don't have to make cheesy statements about you."

"Yes, Ma'am." Austin sneered, "I'll try not to make you look bad."

"Means a lot." Cassidy sarcastically snapped back. Cassidy took off her seatbelt and jumped out of the limo. Austin shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"I'll try to find a songwriter tonight. There needs to be somebody in there who wants the job." Trish gave him an assuring smile. "I think Dez came, too. Maybe he could work as your songwriter."

Austin made a face. "Dez can write a script, not a song."

Trish sighed. "Let's just go." she said. "Thanks, Pedro." Trish smiled at the chauffeur, slamming the door behind her after Austin and Ally had gotten out of the limo.

**. . .**

Everybody seemed to be so focused on the new musician. Ally started to wonder how it felt, to know that you made it, to have a checklist of all the dreams that have suddenly come true. She shook her head. She figured she would never know and, like she's told herself before, let go of the silly dream.

Cassidy surprised Ally by suddenly flopping down in her seat. "Ugh, Ally, I feel like I don't get paid enough to go to things like this." Cassidy placed a palm on her forehead.

Ally laughed slightly as she looked around. "I get you." Ally responded. "But it is nice," Ally smiled, "I like watching her face. She's pretty much glowing. She must be feeling something unimaginable."

Cassidy looked away from the musician and back to Ally. "Yeah, I guess so." She straightened herself up and smiled at Ally slightly. "So, do you have like a musical slant to you or something?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, yeah, I guess you could say that." Ally replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I just think it's cool watching somebody's dreams come true."

Cassidy gave Ally a sympathetic look. "Judging by the way I've seen you watch her," she pointed her finger in the musicians direction, "and the way you're talking to me...I'm going to say that yours didn't?"

"Not quite." Ally shook her head.

"Well? What happened?" Cassidy pressed.

"I don't know. I guess it just didn't work out for me." Ally replied. Cassidy smiled sadly and nodded. Ally glanced over Cassidy's shoulder and spotted Austin at a counter. She got him throwing back a shot. Ally forced a smile at Cassidy. "Um, I'll be right back."

Ally knew very well that if Trish or Cassidy spotted Austin, they'd give him a rough time. Ally made her way towards the mini bar and sat down in the chair next to him. "I thought you made an agreement with Cassidy that you wouldn't drink."

Austin smirked over at her and tossed another back. "I never made an agreement. Besides, I lie to Cassidy all the time."

Ally sighed. "Austin, they're trying to help you. Let them."

"Don't go all Mother Theresa on me." Austin said. "You're just my stupid, little assistant and nothing more."

"Why do I bother?" Ally mumbled, moving to get up but Austin grabbed her arm, stopping her from getting up. He didn't look at her as he stared down at his shot glass.

"You don't have to go." he said.

"I'd rather not stay for your insults." Ally said wryly.

"Sorry." he mumbled. Ally glanced over at him. That was the first time she'd ever gotten an apology from him and probably the last time. She shook her head, but decided to stay anyways. Ally drummed her fingers on the counter.

"So, Why are you drinking?" she questioned him.

Austin shrugged. "Nothing better to do."

"I'm sure that's it." Ally replied, sarcastically.

"How do you always know?" Austin questioned her exasperatedly, fiddling with his shot glass.

Ally looked at him. "You have a tell."

"I don't. It's just you." he replied. Ally wasn't sure what that meant, but she decided not to question it. Ally grabbed the shot glass, taking it away from him before he could fill it again.

"You're playing a song tonight. You shouldn't be drinking. I thought we went through this already." Ally sighed.

"You forgot that I'm playing the deadbeat celebrity now." Austin said.

"You're not a deadbeat." Ally assured him.

"Then what am I?" he asked.

"Difficult." she responded, a small smile tugging on her lips. Austin shook his head.

"Well, I better get ready." Austin muttered. Ally nodded her head and watched him walk away. He was a confusing one. Katy Perry couldn't have said it any better: _You're hot then you're cold_. Ally shook her head and left the mini bar to watch Austin perform.

Ally stood next to Trish and Cassidy. She watched as Austin seemed to be having a conversation with Jimmy and the new musician. She seemed giddy standing in front of Austin. Ally sighed when she watched the poor girl's smile fade and Jimmy scowl over at Austin, no doubt that the blonde boy had said something out of turn.

"Ally, where'd you run off to?" Cassidy asked.

"Just...sorting some things." Ally replied. Cassidy nodded.

"Hi." a familiar voice echoed into the microphone. Austin held the microphone to his lips. "Congratulations to our new musician..." he trailed off, flailing his arm in the direction of the new singer but her name seemed to have slipped his mind. He widened his grin and looked at the crowd. "Well, without further ado..." he glanced back at his band and made a motion with his hands that signaled for them to start playing.

It was the song Ally didn't particularly admire. The song that he claims: _There's a change in pressure / i'm never gonna lie to you_, which in Ally's mind, was complete and utter bull. Austin was a liar. His entire persona was a lie. He fooled everyone and anyone with his poses and music, when in all reality, he was a jerk. A jerk who cared for nobody other than himself.

But she thought about the other night. The look on his face, the limp of his walk, his trust in her. Then she thought about the morning, the pancakes, the bright look that was there for a split second before it was washed away almost immediately, as if she'd said the wrong thing to him. There was something to Austin. Something different, something that nobody else was seeing. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see it herself, but she couldn't deny the fact that she really was rather curious.

Ally focused on his performance again. She could say that he didn't care about his career, that he didn't care about anything, but his eyes sparkle when he sings and she knows that his career is everything. Ally sighed. She hoped Trish could save his career for him, she'd hate to see his talent go to waste, even if he was a dick sometimes.

His words echo inside her final thoughts: _How do you always know? __**You have a tell. **__I don't. It's just you._


	8. Chapter 8

Cassidy slumped down on a stool at the counter. Ally glanced over at her. Cassidy's hair was a tangled mess, her eyes were illuminated by dark circles. "Ally, mind if I take a coffee?"

Ally slowly nodded. "Yeah, sure. What's wrong? You look like you just woke from the dead." Ally cracked a smile at her but it faded when Cassidy only sighed.

"It's Austin." Cassidy said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ally muttered to herself. "What'd he do now?"

"Actually nothing, for once." Cassidy replied. "Trish can't find anyone to write for him. We've interviewed tons of people who seemed applicable, but they just don't have what Jeremy did. Jeremy was one of a kind, and now that he's gone, we might as well all kiss our career's goodbye."

Ally looked at Cassidy sympathetically. "I'm sure somebody will show up and be exactly what he's looking for. Besides, Can't Austin whip up his own song?" Ally questioned.

Cassidy snorted. "Yeah, right. If there's one thing Austin can't do, it's definitely songwriting."

Ally frowned. "Really?"

Cassidy nodded, "Mhm."

Ally slowly scooted Cassidy's coffee across the counter. Cassidy sighed contently, even the smell of the beverage was enough to keep her awake. "You shouldn't lose sleep over this. I know somebody will show up. If somebody wants their career bad enough, they'll show themselves."

Ally halted her movements as she her own ears caught what she'd just said.

_Ally is a songwriter. Ally wants her career bad enough_.

She shakes her head and goes to grab another coffee mug. If there was anything to know about Ally, it's the fact that she would never give her music to somebody else. Her music was her own, nobody else's, and she means it in the most modest way possible.

"They better hurry it up, the rest of us are suffering her." Cassidy grumbled. "Thanks for the coffee, Ally."

Ally watched her walk away. She bit her lip and wondered if anybody really would show up to write for Austin. She started to wonder if it was selfish to keep her lyrics to herself, but Austin wouldn't want to sing her songs anyway, would he? Of course not. He'd call her an amateur, maybe even tell her how much her lyrics sucked. He was that kind of guy.

Ally grabbed the coffee and headed off.

**x**

"I'm thinking that you're Ally."

Ally looked over and saw a tall, lanky boy with a goofy grin. Ally slowly nodded and shook his extended hand. "I am."

"It's great to meet you, Ally. Dez Wade: Austin's best friend, music video director and writer." Dez introduced himself rather proudly. Ally smiled in return. "I will be directing Austin's video and would appreciate a nice cup of tea."

Ally nodded her head. "Oh, yes. On it."

"Thanks, Ally." Dez replied.

Austin never thanked her. She turned and looked at Dez graciously, "At least you have humility." Ally muttered.

Catching her words, Dez said, "He's not so bad. He just...He just needs time to warm up to you, that's all"

"Well, he's taking longer than I'd hoped." Ally rolled her eyes. "I'll be back with your tea."

**. . .**

Ally was waiting at the counter, tapping her fingers as she waited for the water to boil inside the kettle. She hummed a soft melody and softly sang to herself, "Bang bang into the room (I know you want it) / Bang bang all over you (I'll let you have it) / Wait a minute let me take you there."

Ally jumped as she noticed a body standing in the door way. Ally held a palm to her chest. "Trish." she laughed, "You scared me."

Trish gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I just needed to let you know that Austin's requesting another coffee." Trish turned to leave but stopped herself. She slowly turned around and looked at Ally again. "Was that you singing?" Trish questioned.

Ally looked at her and cracked a pretty smile. "Yeah, it was. Just...Just a hobby, I guess."

"Wow, Ally. You're good. Like, really good. You have a great voice." Trish said, sincerely.

Ally smiled. "Thanks, Trish."

Thoughts started spiraling around Ally's brain. This could be her moment. She could tell Trish about her music, about her songwriting, Trish could be the open door to her biggest dreams. But Trish could also take it the wrong way and try to convince Ally to write for Austin. Ally bit her tongue, forcing herself not to say more. Even if she was willing enough to give away her songs, she'd never give it to someone as ungrateful and sly as Austin Moon.

Trish's phone beeped. She took it out of her pocket and glanced at Ally. "I have to take this. Austin's in his trailer preparing for the video." Trish informed her, leaving the room.

Ally sighed. Another chance right there and it was gone, just like all her other dreams that had floated by and gotten the life sucked right out of then. Ally focused on making Dez's tea and Austin's coffee.

She moped as she searched for Austin's trailer. She knocked lightly and walked in. Well, of course Ally would walk in when he didn't have a shirt on. People really aren't kidding when they say timing is a funny thing. She stopped in her steps. _Okay, the boy has a nice back and she won't deny that._

Austin looked over his shoulder at the sound of the door opening. He smirked when he saw his assistant standing there, staring. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

Ally shook her head and looked at him. "No...I...I wasn't...I..." she cleared her throat, "Here's your coffee." she said, pushing a cup forward. She looked down to the mug, seeing the small string dangling over the side. Discovering that she had the wrong mug, she quickly switched mugs. "Here's your coffee." she repeated.

Austin's smirk widened. Her cheeks were turning a little bit pink. He grabbed the mug. "You're cute when you're flustered." he winked. Ally's stomach was in knots - the good kind. (Even though, maybe they should be the bad kind because he's Austin, King Dick.)

"I'm...I'm not flustered." Ally denied, "You just...You caught me off guard." She scratched her cheek nervously. "I'm going to find Dez now." she said quietly, turning around startlingly fast.

Austin's hand grabbed her wrist. "What do you want with Dez?" Austin quizzed.

Ally looked up at him. She glanced to the mug in her hand. "He asked for a tea."

"What?" he frowned, "No, Ally, you only assist me, nobody else."

She then realized he was right. She was Austin's assistant, not Dez's, not Trish's, not Cassidy. She pursed her lips. "Oh. Well, I just thought-"

He grabbed the mug from her. "You don't have to give him this. You shouldn't be doing anything for anyone but me." he spat.

"Well, he is directing your video. It's the least I could do-"

"-You don't have to do it, Ally. Stop being a goddamn pushover." he snapped at her. Ally didn't understand why he was so irritated all of a sudden.

She scowled up at him. "That sounds strange coming from _you! _You walk all over me all the time!" Ally took a step closer.

"You're my assistant. I don't walk all over you, I give you orders." Austin said. "You shouldn't be taking orders from anyone else, just me." His face had gotten closer to her, his words fanning over her face with his hot breaths.

Ally stared up at him. "Why? Does it bother you?" she pressed.

"What? No. No, of course not. I don't give a damn about you."

Ally smirked. "That's not what I asked."

"No. It doesn't bother me, Ally." Austin said, firmly, "I apologize for encouraging you to have a backbone."

"Admit it, Moon," Ally lilted, "You secretly admire me, don't you?"

"Admire you?" he snorted, "Sure. You can call it that."

"Admit it." she sang, "This cold facade of yours is a big joke to cover up how much I truly inspire you." Her smirk seemed to have gotten bigger.

"Careful. Your ego is inflating." Austin said, slyly. He set the tea on the counter behind her.

"Maybe I learned from watching you." she retorted.

"That could be it." he played along for a moment and when he caught her smiling, he could feel that little charmed nature she possessed, cutting right through him. He wouldn't dare let her get to him though. Quickly, he wipes away his humored tone and stares coldly at her, "Don't think this is the start to some pathetic friendship you've made up in your mind now. You're just a stupid assistant, an assistant who will bend over backwards to make everyone like you. Besides, You don't fool me. I know you're just a pathetic wide-eyed dreamer who got here and thought you'd make something of yourself but it turns out, you're just the same as everyone else. There is nothing special about you. You're just...well, you."

He stopped when he saw her eyes become glassy. She looked away, her eye lashes hiding any evidence of her tears but he knew they were there. He hadn't meant to make her cry. He just had to say something to stop her little charm from tattooing itself on his heart. The world's a cruel place, maybe she should get used to it, so really, he shouldn't feel bad...but he did. He considered apologizing but ground his teeth together, keeping it inside.

He took a couple steps back, realizing he was still invading her personal bubble. Ally turned and grabbed the mug of tea that was sitting nicely on the counter. She opened the door to leave, but before she did so, she turned to look at him.

A stray tear fell down her cheek so fast he questioned its existence. "Sometimes, you say the most awful things." she told him. She licked her lips and took a deep breath, glancing into his eyes. "By the way, you're going to want to put on a shirt." The door shut behind her.

Ally wiped away the little trail the tear had left behind. She wasn't going to be butthurt over somebody like Austin. He was wrong about her, and that's all that mattered. What he said wasn't true, but she wondered if he believed it was. Somehow, it bothered her.

Ally forced a smile at Dez, handing him the mug of tea. He looked at her concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yes. Of course." Ally lied through her teeth. "My contact is bothering me."

Dez nodded. "Well, okay."

**x**

There hadn't been much interaction between Austin and Ally after the incident from a couple days ago. Nobody seemed to notice much, which is exactly how Ally liked it. Austin didn't seem to have any interests in talking to her either as he hadn't requested anything from her.

But of course she knew the tension needed to be severed. She is his assistant and couldn't remain silent from him forever, he couldn't ignore her forever. Sooner or later, the two were going to have to work something out but Ally really hoped that night wouldn't be tonight.

Cassidy's birthday had stapled itself on tonight's date and, of course, everyone was invited. The entire management, and Austin. Cassidy claimed she didn't want him there but thought he should be. After all, she was his publicist.

Ally took a deep breath, heading for the apartment. Her knee caps stuttered as she shivered. It wasn't cold tonight, maybe it was her nerves. She really didn't want to face Austin. She was afraid that when she saw him, she might dive four knuckles into his nose. She probably wouldn't regret it either.

Her fist rapped on the door. She contemplated turning around and going home, but lost her chance when the door opened and Cassidy appeared in all of her blonde-haired beauty. She pulled Ally in for a hug. Ally laughed slightly as she followed Cassidy inside.

Soon enough, Ally didn't regret her appearance to the party as she got along very well with Cassidy's other friends. Trish happened to be at the party which helped Ally settle quite well. Dez had tagged along and was keeping Ally good company. His humor wasn't too bad. He really knew how to make people laugh.

Just as Ally started to get comfortable, her eyes met a pair of brown eyes from across the room. Her smile faded, eyes turning cold as she stared at the blonde boy leaning against the wall. He smirked at her. She rolled her eyes in response, making his smirk widened. He obviously didn't feel the same tension as she did.

"Hey, Ally, can you grab me some punch?" asked Trish. Ally nodded her head and begrudgingly went to the kitchen. She passed Austin and sighed as she felt him following.

He leaned his back against the counter watching her. At least the way she looked tonight got the image of her teary eyes out of his mind. "You can't ignore me forever."

"But I can make the most of it." Ally retorted, glaring at him.

"Fine. I'm sorry about what I said. You were pissing me off." Austin replied.

"I apologize." Ally said, sarcastically. She poured some punch into a plastic cup.

"Can we just say we're passed this feud?" Austin questioned, hope in his voice. He really hated tension and he could feel it like it was the cold wind.

Ally sighed. She knew she had to move past it. Now was her chance. She glanced at him. "I guess so. But, to tell you the truth, I'm only holding onto this job for Trish and Cassidy. They've done a lot for me. You're just sort of the pudding at the corner of the plate."

Austin looked heavenward and then looked over at her again. "Ally, I said I'm sorry."

"You don't mean it." Ally retorted.

"I do." Austin assured her.

She gave him a tight smirk, "How hard was it to think up this apology?" With that, she walked back to the living room. Austin sighed and followed her.

"We need some entertainment." Somebody voiced.

"Austin! Play us a song!" cried another person with joy.

"I don't sing when I'm off work!" Austin replied, hearing their sorrowed groans. "Besides, this is Cassidy's birthday. It should be about her, not me."

"I'm kind of tired of hearing you play the same songs over and over again, anyways." Cassidy smirked. Austin rolled his eyes. He slumped down in a chair next to Dez.

Trish's eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, I know! Ally!" Trish grinned. Ally looked at her startled. "Ally sings! She's really good, too! Ally should play us a song!"

Cassidy's eyes widened, "Really?"

Ally smiled awkwardly, "Uh, Yeah. Yeah, I do sing."

"Do you write?" somebody else questioned.

Before Ally could even think about the 'what-if's' she blurted, "All the time."

"You write songs, too?" Trish howled with excitement. "Well, play us one!"

"Oh...Oh, Well, I shouldn't-"

"You should." Cassidy interrupted. "One second!" Cassidy bolted up and ran to another room.

The party guests cheered for Ally, apart from Austin. Austin watched her intently. He didn't understand how she charmed everyone so easily.

Cassidy returned with a guitar and pick. Ally took it and brought the guitar strap around her neck. Ally took a moment to get herself comfortable. She sat back in her seat and took a deep breath. Her heart started pounding as she looked at the eager eyes. Finally, she had a crowd to watch her. Maybe it wasn't in a concert hall, but this was good enough. She smiled.

Austin smirked as he watched her. He always found it absolutely _adorable _how some people thought they'd have it. Some people dreamed far too big and he guessed Ally was one of them. He'd bet a million bucks that she was an average wedding-singer type and couldn't write a good song to save her life. He'd bet it was something silly, something cliché, something that just wasn't worth the time.

She strummed the guitar very lightly and gently began to sing:

"_Flashing lights and we _

_took a wrong turn and we_

_fell down a rabbit hole..."_

His smirk was still in place, but falling ever so lightly. His muscles tightened at the sound of her voice. So pure, so angelic.

"_You held on tight to me_

_'Cause nothing's as it seems_

_Spinning out of control..."_

No. No. No, Ally couldn't be one of those really good types. But when she picks up the quiet melody into a faster paced rhythm, he straightens up and watches her intently, intrigued. Yeah, Okay, she was one of those really good types.

_"Didn't they tell us don't rush into things?_

_Didn't you flash your green eyes at me?_

_Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds?_

_Didn't it all seem new and exciting?_

_I felt your arms twisting around me_

_I should've slept with one eye opened at night_

_We found Wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it_

_and we pretended it could last forever_

_Hey,_

_We found Wonderland _

_You and I got lost in it_

_and life was never worse but never better_

_Hey, Hey_

_In wonderland _

_In wonderland _

_In wonderland _

_In wonderland _

_So we went on our way _

_Too in love to think straight _

_All alone or so it seemed..._

_But there were strangers watching_

_And whispers turned to talking_

_And talking turned to screams._

_Didn't they tell us don't rush into things? _

_Didn't you flash your green eyes at me?_

_Didn't you calm my fears with the Cheshire cat smile?_

_Didn't it all seem new and exciting?_

_I felt your arms twisting around me_

_It's all fun and games 'til somebody loses their mind._

_But darling, we found wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it_

_And we pretended it could last forever_

_Hey_

_We found wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it_

_And life was never worse but never better_

_Hey, Hey_

_In wonderland _

_In wonderland _

_In wonderland _

_In wonderland _

_I reached for you but you were gone_

_I knew I had to go back home _

_You search the world for something else to make you feel like what we had_

_And in the end in wonderland we both went mad._

_Oooooh!_

_We found wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it _

_And we pretended it could last forever (last forever)_

_Hey, Hey_

_We found wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it (got lost in it)_

_And life was never worse but never better (never better)_

_Hey, Hey_

_We found wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it (wonderland)_

_And we pretended it could last forever (in wonderland)_

_We found wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it (wonderland)_

_And life was never worse but never better_

_In wonderland"_

The room was dead silent for an interesting amount of time until finally everyone cheered, applauding her in an pleasurable way. Ally smiled. This was what she wanted. This was happiness in one moment. Playing her music for a group of people and getting positive feedback.

"What's a talent like that doing being an assistant!" somebody shrieked.

Austin stared openly at her. He obviously had lost that stupid bet he'd made up in his head. He was so lost in his thoughts, he hadn't thought to even applaud her. Ally wasn't just good, Ally had a talent. The kind that caught people's attention.

Then there was another problem:

Ally could write songs. And she was good at it. Austin needed a songwriter. And the one that was even better then Jeremy was only a few feet away from him, was his personal assistant.

He knew something in that moment: _Ally had to write for him. She just had to._


	9. Chapter 9

He'd been staring at her for _way_ longer than necessary, Ally had reasoned that out quickly. She shifted uncomfortably in his gaze. He still didn't look away. Ally bit her lip, feeling her stomach flipping under his stare.

_He must be one hell of a competition during staring contests_, Ally thought to herself.

Ally cleared her throat and sent Austin a look, with a pretty reasonable message that was in between the lines of: _Stop staring at me _and _What are you looking at?_

Austin tapped his fingers lightly on the arm of his chair. Something twitched behind his chest bone at the sight of her teeth sinking into her pink lips. He'll bet those lips are soft - No, no, no. They're probably dry. _Or smooth_. But definitely not satisfying. _Or completely desiring_.

She played one hell of a game on him and she probably didn't even know it. One moment he felt himself hating her with every fiber in his being, the next she was this cute little thing that he wanted to spend hours on the couch with. There really was no in between.

Ally's prominent eyes bored into his. Her lips were pressed in a thin, crooked line. He smirked as she continued to smirk behind his line of vision. She let out a cute huff and focused over at Jimmy who was continuing his positive lecture to Austin.

With Austin's Single having sold 1.2 million sales within the second week of its release date, Jimmy was pleading God for a writer to appear sometime soon. There was no way Austin's career could go down the drain. Austin was Jimmy's most successful musician. Austin reserved a golden spot on Jimmy's name, on his label.

"Don't worry, Jimmy. I'm sure we can find _someone _to write for me. Maybe the writer is even closer than you think." Austin said with confidence. Austin glanced over to Ally who nodded at Jimmy reassuringly.

Austin rolled his eyes. She was too damn naive to even notice that Austin had been referring to her.

"I hope that's true." Jimmy pinched the bridge of his nose, transparent grief in his eyes. He then narrowed them down at Austin. "Let's hope you keep this one."

"Oh, trust me," Austin grinned crookedly, staring openly at Ally, "this writer will stay."

"You better not be fooling me this time, Moon." Jimmy warned, firmly. He checked his watch. "I've got a meeting. You two can walk yourselves out, can't you?" He waited for the two kids to nod and when they did, he dismissed himself in a hurry, mumbling about being late.

Austin turned his head to Ally again as she got out of her seat. "Not so fast." Austin leaped up, grabbing her wrist.

Annoyed, Ally tugged her arm from his grasp. "You've already had your coffee - two actually! Careful, that's bad for your digestive system." she casted him a witty look.

Austin rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't need a coffee." he told her. He grinned slyly. "I want you to pass along the news that _I_ found myself a new songwriter."

Ally's eyes bugged slightly in surprised. "You did?" she gaped at him. Austin nodded his head, the crookedness of his grin becoming more noticeable. "Oh." She gave him a relieved smile, "That's good, Austin. I can tell Trish to cancel those appointments with the other writers she found. This will be such a relief, on all of us. No more worrying."

Ally pulled out her phone getting ready to tell Trish the _ohsowonderful _news. "Alright, so who is it?" she questioned him, glancing over.

Austin smirked. "You."

**x**

"You have to do this, Ally." Austin said, sternly, following her as they walked through the building.

"I don't have to do anything." Ally snapped. She turned around and looked at him. She's stated a million times that she _will not _be his songwriter. She didn't care what he said or what he proposed, she would not write for him. Her music was hers.

"What makes you think I would ever write for you?" Ally snarled.

"Simple. You would do anything for somebody to hear your music. I'm the one who can do that for you." Austin smirked at her easily, reaching out and grazing the music note charm that hung from her necklace. Ally flinched back.

Ally shook her head. "I'm not writing for you. My music is for me and only me."

Austin stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you're right," he obliged, "Who would want to help me anyways? I deserve to be just another wasted dream, another wasted talent. Oh, and Trish..." he sighed, turning around and starting to walk away very slowly, "I'll just have to tell her it's back to living in homeless shelters." He kept enough distance to travel further away, but stayed close enough for her to hear him.

Ally rolled her eyes.

"She grew up in one, I'm sure she won't have a problem getting back to her old routines." Austin said, "And Cassidy, poor Cassidy. She'll probably have to go back to school. What about me? I'll just...I'll have nothing. Just the spotlight of a showerhead." he paused, "Even Ally," he tried not to smirk as he shook his head, "Ally will just have to go back to Miami and work in her father's music store only ever wondering about what could've been. But that's okay, I guess."

Ally's eyes widened, "You read my file."

Austin turned, "Oh, Sorry?" he gave her an innocent look, "I hope it won't hurt when you remember you were the reason we all lost our jobs."

"You read my file." Ally repeated.

"Of course I did, honey." Austin crooned, mockingly. "You lived in Miami and worked at a small little music store. You and your father had a decent income but it's nothing compared to what you're getting now. Damn, Ally, and that apartment, you were really just getting cozy." Austin said tauntingly as he walked closer to her.

"You won't lose your career. Somebody will have to come along." Ally narrowed her eyes at him.

Austin shrugged his shoulders. "I'm afraid not. Trish has interviewed many people and none of them have what I've been looking for. You were the first." Austin said, a pitying tone inside his voice. Ally shook her head.

"You heard one song." Ally said.

"Then play me another." Austin suggested, "And if I like it, you have to be my songwriter."

"That's stupid." Ally said, shaking her head, "You're going to make me your songwriter just to spite me."

"I won't. Promise." Austin said. Ally stared at him, unsurely. He shrugged. "You know, Ally, I don't care if you want to be my songwriter or not. If it's not for me, do it for Trish or Cassidy, so they can keep their jobs. They're good people, Ally. They don't deserve to lose their jobs because of me."

Ally saw honesty in his eyes. With those words, she thought about it. Trish and Cassidy had become close friends. Ally was a songwriter and Austin was a successful musician, together these two could make something of themselves. They could allow for Cassidy and Trish to keep their jobs, it could allow her to keep her own job.

Ally looked at him with apology and sincerity in her eyes. "I'll play you one song. You have to be honest. If it's what you're looking for, fine, hire me, if it's not, don't hire me. But don't hire me for them, or anybody else, hire me because you believe in my music."

He took a step closer, making Ally's chest feel tight. His face was so close she'd even felt his breath fanning her nose. He was intimidating, intoxicating, and annoying, all wrapped into one. "And that right there," he whispered, "is exactly what I'm looking for."

Ally stared up at him with beady eyes. She slowly turned around on her heels and started off in the direction of the music room, practice room, whatever the room was called. She felt Austin following behind. Her heart was beating fast. This just might be it, this just might not be it.

Austin shut the door behind him and Ally felt a little bit uncomfortable being hidden away in a room with him. Ally glanced over at him as he gestured for her to sit down at the piano. She took a deep breath and found herself sitting in front of the keys without even remembering getting there.

Austin grabbed a chair and sat down next to the piano. "Show me what you've got." he smirked at her. Ally gave him a look. "I'm all ears, for real." he assured her.

He knew that Ally had no idea how much Austin needed her truly. He knew from what he'd heard at Cassidy's party last week that Ally had something he needed. Her music was different, it was real. She wrote songs and she meant them. Something he needed to have. He'd worked up the nerve, thought through different ways of asking for Ally to be his writer over the last week and he wasn't going to stand for the answer no.

Ally set her fingers on the keys and began to play a soft melody that he already liked.

_"My lover's got humor_

_She's the giggle at a funeral_

_Knows everybody's disapproval_

_I should've worshipped her sooner_

_If the heavens ever did speak_

_She's the last true mouthpiece_

_Every Sunday's getting more bleak_

_A fresh poison each week_

_'We were born sick, ' you heard them say it_

_My Church offers no absolutes_

_She tells me, 'Worship in the bedroom.'_

_The only heaven I'll be sent to_

_Is when I'm alone with you—_

_I was born sick,_

_But I love it_

_Command me to be well_

_Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen._

_[Chorus 2x:]_

_Take me to church_

_I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies_

_I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife_

_Offer me that deathless death_

_Good God, let me give you my life_

_If I'm a pagan of the good times_

_My lover's the sunlight_

_To keep the Goddess on my side_

_She demands a sacrifice_

_Drain the whole sea_

_Get something shiny_

_Something meaty for the main course_

_That's a fine looking high horse_

_What you got in the stable?_

_We've a lot of starving faithful_

_That looks tasty_

_That looks plenty_

_This is hungry work_

_[Chorus 2x:]_

_Take me to church_

_I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies_

_I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife_

_Offer me my deathless death_

_Good God, let me give you my life_

_No Masters or Kings_

_When the Ritual begins_

_There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin_

_In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene_

_Only then I am Human_

_Only then I am Clean_

_Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen._

_[Chorus 2x:]_

_Take me to church_

_I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies_

_I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife_

_Offer me that deathless death_

_Good God, let me give you my life."_

Austin stared at her, not saying a word. She left him speechless once again, and he was never speechless often. She let her hands fall away from the keys, feeling content with her music until she remembered that Austin was still there. She looked over at him.

Austin stared at her for a minute longer. "You need to write for me, Ally. I'm not lying; You have what I'm looking for, what I need in my career." She wasn't used to such a sincere voice. She took a deep breath and finally nodded her head.

"Don't look at me like that." Austin said. Ally frowned. "Like I'm ripping your heart out. I'm doing you favor, Ally. Please, trust me on that." Ally never replied as she looked away. "You're an excellent writer, Ally, and I know I'm a good performer. Together we could do something incredible."

Ally looked over at him again. She recalled the night with him at her apartment. The look on his face, the things he said to her. "Only because you told me your career was your everything." Ally said, gently. She didn't want for his response. She got up and left the room, leaving him in there alone.

Austin frowned in confusion, before recalling the moment: _"Ally," Austin said after a moment, "If my career ends...I will have literally lost everything." _

_"It won't end." Ally said._

_He looked back at her again, "Are you one of those the-glass-is-always-half-full types?"_

_She cracked a smile, "You could say that." _

Austin blinked away the memory. Then, - get this! - he smiled.

**x**

**not caring too much about this chapter. it was short, apologies. it's kinda late. i wanted to write another chapter so this just kind of horribly happened. don't let austin fool you, he hasn't changed just yet, but he will...in time...in good, precious time.**


	10. Chapter 10

Ally charged down the hallway, her lips curled into a scorn. She shoved past anyone who tried to grab her attention. She had no interest in talking to anyone who wasn't Austin at the moment. She ignored her name being called curiously by a few crew members.

"Ally, I think-"

"Later." she snapped over her shoulder, continuing down the hallway, each step gaining aggressiveness. She turned the corner sharply, slamming her hands against the door. They were ready to curl into fists for one heavenly good strike to Austin's jaw.

That _liar._

That _jerk._

That _douche bag._

Austin was just about to open his mouth to order out a coffee when he suddenly let out a startled yelp as he was shoved against the wall - _hard_. Ally gripped his shoulders, finger nails cutting through his skin. Austin blinked a couple times.

A smirk pulled on Austin's lips, "Well, Ally," he chuckled haughtily, "If you wanted me so bad, all you had to do was ask."

"You lied!" she snarled, shoving him again.

Austin flinched at the impact of his head hitting the wall. He shut his eyes for a moment before opening them again. Ally watched as a muscle in his jaw twitched."Do you mind?" he said, through gritted teeth, seeing a couple stars in his vision. When she didn't reply. He rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ally took a step back, scowl imprinted on her face. She dug a hand into her back pocket and snatched out an article. He watched as she unfolded the mysterious paper. She turned it over as his eyes caught the headline: _**Austin Moon's Mysterious New Songwriter**__._

"Mysterious new songwriter?" she growled, shoving him again.

Austin sighed. "Ally-"

"Don't 'Ally' me!" she barked, "I agreed to become your songwriter out of the goodness of my heart and you don't even give me a name! You said that this is how I could get my start!"

"It's not about the fame, Ally." Austin said, smoothly.

"You promised." Ally muttered, her bottom lip curling.

He stared at her lip for a moment before looking up at her eyes that held some sort of sense of betrayal. "I didn't." he replied. "There was no promise, there wasn't even an agreement. I never said this is how you could start, I just simply said this is how people could hear your music."

"Same thing!" she shoved him again.

"Stop that!" Austin hissed, grabbing her wrists and removing her hands from his shoulders. "If I remember correctly, you're not doing this for your start, you're doing this so Trish and Cassidy get to keep their jobs, and you get to keep that lovely apartment of yours."

"I'm not letting you take credit for my writing!" Ally growled.

"I don't recall ever telling anyone that I wrote the new song. I just never stated the writer's name." Austin said, giving her a taunting look.

"You said this was a chance for somebody to hear my music-"

"-And they are hearing it. They just don't know who the music is from other than who's singing it." Austin said, slyly.

"That's not what you told me." Ally said, angrily, yanking her wrists from out of his grasp. "I wanted people to hear my music, not yours, not some mysterious writer, mine, as in Ally Dawson. That's my music and you're not even granting me any acknowledgements for it."

Austin sighed with annoyance, "Look," Austin said, "This is the music industry. Nothing ever goes the way we want it to, you just have to go with it. There is no fantasy here, it's what the public wants."

"No," Ally hissed, "It's what you want! It's always want you want! You don't give a damn about anybody other than yourself! You don't care about where Cassidy and Trish end up, you don't care if I write for you or not, all you care about is having the best name on the best magazine."

"You know, Ally, there is so much in this industry that you don't know. This industry isn't for naive people like you." Austin deprecated.

"Oh, and you think it's for somebody as holy as you?" she retorted, "You don't...You don't even belong here. That's the horrible thing about this industry! The people who can make it have these big dreams and so much ambition but for some reason, it's only ever given to people like you. The people who don't deserve it. The people who don't care. The people who don't give a damn about anything." Ally glared at him as she leaned closer, "The people who are just _losers_." she spat.

"You're calling me a loser?" Austin scoffed, "Please, I'm in no mood for your little speeches about where my feet are in life."

"You said we could be incredible, but you can't even share the spotlight." Ally shook her head. "You said you believed in my music. You think they're just songs, but they're not. They're my everything. Everything that I am. My entire being is based on those songs." He saw a little glisten in the corner of her eye. "I don't want them to be just songs, I want them to mean something. Whether it's to you, or somebody in the crowd. I never wanted it to be just something in a magazine or something that's just on the radio when nothing else is left play."

Suddenly, a palm was placed over her lips. "You talk a lot." Austin whispered. She was starting to make too much sense. She was starting to make him feel guilty.

He stared down at her, lifting his free hand and using the knuckle of his index finger to wipe away that little glisten that was about to come down her cheek. She frowned at him, confused.

"I'm sorry." he finally said.

Her eyes widened slightly. She didn't know whether to laugh or gasp.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." he muttered, "I'm going to be honest and I'm only going to be honest with you once," he told her and then lowered his voice as if afraid that somebody would overhear, "You're the only assistant I've had that gets this job, that does it right, that pays attention to every little detail about my career, who pays attention to my career-"

"But you always said-"

"-Forget what I said," Austin shook his head and continued, "When they know that you're writing my songs, I know there's a chance that you're going to be asked to write for other musicians, and the opportunities are going to grow greater and better every time until you're probably going to have to quit this job, but we can't have that, Ally."

Ally removed his hand as she glared at him. "Why? Because then you're life isn't a perfect rainbow anymore?"

He gave her a serious look. "Because I need you."

Her eyes narrowed on him, but he didn't seem to be letting up an rueful smirk. His words hung loosely in the air, just dangling between the two of them. Ally wasn't sure what she was expecting - if she was even expecting anything at all. How could someone flash between a witty sass-master and a sincere and serious jock-like facade?

Suddenly, the door swung open.

"Austin, I-" Whoever had rushed through the door came to a sudden halt. "Oh."

Both Austin and Ally looked over to see Trish standing there, lips curled into a gaping 'O' shape as she blinked several times, trying to decipher what exactly it was that she was seeing.

It was this: Austin and Ally, standing close, very close, almost too close, close enough that Trish was frozen with surprise. Close enough that Trish quickly gave them both a questioning look.

Austin gifted his manager with a puzzled frown until he slowly looked down at Ally and realized just exactly how close she'd been standing. They mustn't have noticed in the midst of their bickering. Ally, just as confused, looked up at Austin with a small frown before her eyes widened and she took a step back - a _giant _step back.

"What...What's going on in here?" Trish wondered, eyes flickering between the two of them. Ally gripping her arms at her side and Austin looking around almost uncomfortably. Trish shook her head. She didn't want to know and quite frankly, she also believed that she didn't care to know.

"Did you need something?" Austin finally asked gruffly.

"Oh! Right." Trish said, "Your...Your song...It's amazing! We have to know who wrote it! It's sold more than your last single by far. It's so you but not you at the same time! I...I don't even...We need to hire whoever wrote this song immediately!" she quickly scowled at him, "Unless you stole it from somebody? Austin, I know your career has been-"

"-I didn't steal it!" Austin exclaimed, "I do have a writer." Austin averted his eyes to his assistant who was staring at the floor. He wasn't willing to let Ally be pulled away from him because of her remarkable writing talent, but he also wasn't willing to let her talent slip by unnoticed. He felt like it was a cross roads. But maybe after all, this wouldn't be a bad thing. Ally could be his assistant _and _songwriter.

"Well?" Trish pressed eagerly, "Who is it?"

"Ally. She wrote it."

Ally's eyes widened and she looked over at him. He gave her a glance, but quickly looked over to Trish who frowned in confusion.

"What?" Trish said, her eyes looking over to Ally who was gawking at Austin before she looked back over to Trish. "This Ally?" Both Austin and Ally nodded. "Ally..." she breathed before slapping her palm to her own forehead, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Ally frowned slightly, "What?"

"You! Why didn't I think about hiring you?!" Trish shrieked, "You were great at Cassidy's party. It should've been the first thing to come to mind! I can't believe I..." Trish shook her head, eyes lighting up and a grin stretching on her lips. "This is perfect, but...What about the assistant job? Who will do that?"

Austin frowned. "Um, Ally?"

"No, no. Ally can't do both." Trish said, "That's a lot of work. She can't assist you and then write with you."

"I don't mind." Ally said coyly, "Really, I don't. I can still do everything I was before and I can write."

"Ally," Trish shook her head, "It's going to sound fishy and desperate that we hired his assistant as his songwriter. Besides, that's like working two jobs a day. You'll be exhausted. You'll have to do what you normally do, but then on top of that, be pressured to write an album under a strict time limit."

"I can deal." Ally assured her. Ally glanced over to Austin. "As long as I get..._acknowledged._"

Trish thought for a moment, then said, "Well, if you're sure about this. I can contact Jimmy right away. The album really needs to be started. Austin's already behind since Jeremy quit."

Ally nodded her head. "I think we can do it. With Austin's help, of course."

"Wait...What?" Trish and Austin chorused together, looking at Ally.

Trish laughed slightly and then stared at Ally, "Did you say...Austin could help?"

Ally frowned and slowly nodded. "Well, Yeah. It's his album. We'll need to bounce ideas off of one another. We could collaborate and-"

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa." Austin put a finger up, stopping Ally from continuing on. "You're my writer. You write for me. I just sing the stuff you write. There is no collaboration, no working together. It's just you giving me songs to sing."

"If you're going to sing my songs, you're going to help me with them." Ally said, sternly.

"Ally, I can't write." Austin said, shaking his head.

"Ally, he's a joke." Trish said. Austin looked at her as she sent him an apologetic look. "In the nicest way." she added. He rolled his eyes. "Austin needs a writer for a reason. Austin can do a lot of things, but writing...Yeah, not one of them."

"I can write." Austin said quickly, "I just...Not well."

"Hm." Trish hummed.

"We'll figure something out!" Ally assured, "Besides," Ally gave Austin a look, "You could use some time with the music."

Trish smiled at Ally slightly, no doubting the brunette for a moment. "Well, Alright. I'll pass this along to Jimmy." Trish exited the room.

Austin looked at Ally. "I'm not working with you. Trish wasn't kidding; I can't write a song. I've tried. Hence, why I need this from you."

"Fine," Ally said, "I'll write the words, you can sit there and...I don't know, judge?" Ally shook her head, "You can work on these with me. It's your album, Austin. You need to put it together."

"Fine." Austin said, rolling his eyes, "Whatever you say."

Ally smirked, "Good."

"Now get me a coffee."

**x**

**Okay, so here's a note regarding the feedback I was getting on the last chapter:**

**First, thank you for all the compliments. It means a lot! :) **

**Second, Some people were concerned on how the song was a bad choice. Personally, it's a song that means a lot to me and I feel like it has deeper meaning that a lot of people truly think it does. However, it was originally supposed to be edited and I thought I had edited the song to make it sound more female-versioned, but I hadn't. So the fact that it wasn't edited to fit who was singing it was a mistake and I apologize.**

**Third, A lot of people dislike Austin and it makes perfect sense because he's kind of a jerk. To me, Austin is super fun to write because he's so mysterious, awful, and interesting all at once. Austin's character will, however, be looking up very soon now that he and Ally will be working together. She's his assistant and his songwriter, thus, this will soon introduce a bond that begins to form beautifully between the very unusually opposite characters. **

**I will award you with another fact that Austin does have a past (as does Ally) and you will be learning about it soon as it goes on and it will start to pull together loose ends on why Austin has acted up the way he has with his whole 'hot and cold' thing. So, Austin's character will have "momentum" and you will begin to see that he's really not as awful as he tries to be. ( I think that rhymed). **

**Also, Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited, and/or followed this story! It means a lot and thanks for the patience you all seem to hold. Thanks for enjoying the story, reading it, and giving me feedback!**


	11. Chapter 11

_"Babe, there's something tragic about you_

_Something so magic about you_

_Don't you agree?_

_Babe, there's something lonesome about you_

_Something so wholesome about you_

_Get closer to me_

_No tired sighs, no rolling eyes, no irony_

_No 'who cares', no vacant stares, no time for me_

_Honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago_

_Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword_

_Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know_

_I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door_

_Babe, there's something wretched about this_

_Something so precious about this_

_Where to begin."_

Ally could hear Austin's voice muffled through the concrete walls. This time, as she moved around the kitchen, she decided on the coffee mix instead of the beans. She really didn't want a repeat of what happened last time, of what she'd never let happen again.

She knew the song had ended and Austin would most likely be looking for his beverage at any moment. She scurried around, popping the lid on the coffee cup and raced out the kitchen, nearly knocking somebody down in the process. She chirps a quick apology and moves as fast as her feet can go.

She stands bolt upright in front of the wall as she waits. Maybe not even a fifth of a second later, Austin comes through the door, and to Ally's surprise: having a sparkle in his eyes, like maybe he might've actually enjoyed himself up there.

His eyes meet hers and she tries not to take it personally when the sparkle seems to flutter away. She questioned its existence. She glues a smile on her lips and props the coffee up more to prove her good deed.

Austin's hands snatch the coffee and he frowns at it. Ally sighs. "What now?" she quizzed. She wondered how one person could be so much work.

"I just got off stage; I expected something to _cool me down_." Austin said, his eyes condescending.

"Are you kidding me?" Ally suddenly spat. She was about to take it back and quickly apologize for sounding so rude and disrespectful, until she realized her tone caught his attention. She decides not to take it back, instead, she continues, "You played a stupid piano and sang one song. You literally sat down the entire performance."

"The light's are hot." he tried.

"Take the coffee." she demanded.

She wasn't sure if he cracked the smile because she'd made a point, or simply because for the first time, her tone left no room for his remarks. Either way, she figured it didn't matter. She was surprised at the way his lips moved before he decided to put the coffee to his lips and take a sip. Not once did he look away from her eyes.

She narrowed her eyes at him. He looked over his shoulder to find Trish busy and Cassidy no where in sight. He looked back at Ally and smirked. "Follow me." He plopped the full cup of coffee in the garbage, but that was the least of Ally's concerns.

"What? What are we-"

"Shut up." Austin muttered, exasperatedly. Ally opened her mouth to defend herself, but he quickly cut in, "Ally." His tone sounded like a warning. Ally frowned. He nodded his head in the direction he wanted them both to go, silently beckoning her to follow.

So she did.

She wasn't sure why, but she did.

He took her down a hallway, one that was quiet and without people. Her mind pulsed with questions. "Austin, What are you doing?" she finally blurted, sighing. She hoped this wasn't some sort of psychopathic killing ordeal. It seemed he did lack a vast amount of human emotion, maybe it was possible.

"Come on." he beckoned.

Ally continued to follow, only halting in her footsteps when she saw where he was going. A blue metal door. Her eyes caught the sign just above it in bold letters: EXIT.

"Austin, what do you think you're doing? We can't leave. _You _can't leave." Ally said, grabbing his shoulder, hoping to stop him.

"I want to get out of here." Austin told her, nothing but mischief in his eyes. His palm rested on the metal bar. At any given moment, he was going to escape the building and Ally would be responsible for knowing about it and not stopping him.

She noticed he'd held her stare. Her mouth curled into an 'O' shape, eyes growing in size. She pointed to herself, "With me? You want to...leave...with me?"

His eyes searched her face for something, she wondered if he'd found it because his lips grew into a crooked grin. "With you." he confirmed. He glances over her shoulder, double checking for anyone who could've followed them. He looks at her again. "Let's go."

"Austin, we can't just-"

"-What's the worst that could happen?" he questioned her.

Ally didn't have an answer. What _was_ the worst that could happen? They flick Ally on the back of the wrist? Austin gets a lecture? They both get a lecture? They couldn't fire Austin, the best musician on the label, and Trish wouldn't give up on Austin, and Ally knew it, too. She also knew that Trish would never dream of firing her either, Austin needs a songwriter and an assistant. Both of which, Ally seemed to occupy pleasantly.

"Stop over analyzing. We're not running away, we're just..." he pondered his mind, "_getting_ away. Just for a minute."

"Austin, but we-"

He was out the door and she had a feeling that he was leaving with or without her. Ally groaned softly and followed after him. She squinted at the sun as it beamed down at her. Why was one in the afternoon always so bright? Especially after you've just been in a dark arena.

Austin glanced over his shoulder, "You're coming, then?"

"No, Austin, we have to go back. We can't just leave. You have a meeting with Jimmy in an hour and Trish said that you have a photoshoot with Vogue magazine in twenty minutes, you can't-"

He turned around. "You worry way too much."

"Well, somebody's got to." she replied.

"You can't worry about me, Ally," he told her, "Worrying would be pointless."

"What makes you say that?" she questioned him. Austin glanced at her, giving away nothing but a crooked grin. "Austin, this is stupid. We're going to get in trouble."

"I get the notion that you like to follow the rules." Austin said.

Ally stopped in her steps as she watched him. "That's not true."

Austin turned around to face her. "Oh, Yeah? Then this shouldn't be too heavy on you, hm?" he smirked. He continued on his way, not caring if she followed or not. His smirk widened a little bit when he heard her feet clicking on the pavement, hurrying to get next to him again.

"Well," Ally swallowed hard, "Where are we going?"

"I don't know. Places." Austin said. Ally rolled her eyes. "Doesn't it feel good to just...walk out?" Austin crooned, looking down at her.

Ally shook her head. "Not really."

Austin looked over at her, shaking his head. "You're a little bit impossible, Ally." he said.

"It's called honesty. You should try it." she retorted. Her eye brows shot up slightly at the sound of a chuckle rumbling out from his vocal chords. "_It_ laughs?" she muttered, grimacing when he caught her eye.

"You know what you need," Austin said.

"No, but I have a feeling you'll tell me." Ally responded.

"I didn't know you had an attitude on you, Ally." Austin said.

"Does it bother you?" she quizzed, a spark of hope flickering somewhere in her ribcage.

"Not one bit." Austin grinned. "I think I like it."

The spark burnt out. "Oh?" she couldn't hold back the saddened, sarcastic laugh.

"What you need," he began, getting back on track, "is a little taste of the fast life."

"I've been your assistant for two months. I've already been experiencing the fast life." she replied.

"No, No," Austin shook his head, "You've been experiencing it, but you haven't been tasting it."

"Tasting it?" she echoed.

He nodded. "Yeah, you know...Heading out into the town to do your thing, your own thing."

"My own thing?" she replied, scrunching her nose to look at him. He looked down at her and nodded. "I was on the high school debate team. I don't really have an out-in-the-town thing."

"Good." Austin said. "That means I get to show you."

"No, Austin," Ally sighed, "We need to get back. You can't miss this photoshoot or your meeting with Jimmy."

"There's a thing called rescheduling." Austin chimed, "And guess who's job that is?" Austin grinned over at her.

She frowned at him. "That's not my job. I'm just told to follow you around and do what you say."

"Right." Austin said, "And I'm telling you to reschedule."

"I'm not rescheduling. It's also my job to get you to accomplish your tasks, not help you ditch them." Ally said. "Take your dress off and end your tea party, we need to go back."

"Are you normally this mouthy?" Austin asked.

Ally sighed. "I'm sorry. I think-"

"That's your problem." Austin interrupted. Ally arched a brow. "You apologize. A lot. You do everything everybody wants. You never stick up for yourself. You address everybody's needs before yours. You need a moment to be just Ally. Not a songwriter, not an assistant. Just Ally."

"What am I supposed to do as just Ally?" she questioned, giving a shrug. Over the last two months, Ally had a routine to follow. A schedule. She felt rather lost without it. It was almost foreign not to have Austin ordering a coffee.

He sighed, "Ally, you're missing the point." He stopped walking and grabbed her shoulders so she was facing him, "Stop doing things for everyone."

"I can't just-"

"-Ally." Austin growled, growing frustrated.

"It's my job, Austin. To tend to needs, that's what I was hired for." Ally retorted.

"No," he argued, "That's what you were hired for me for. Not for Cassidy, or Trish, or Dez, or some lady at the grocery store. You were hired to be my assistant and as your boss, I'm telling you to stop doing things for everyone. Grow a backbone. Ditch work for a little while and spend quality time with me."

"Quality time?" Ally repeated, questioningly.

"Fine. Ditch work and _have a break_. When was the last time you had a break?" Austin quizzed.

"I don't know. Your my boss, why don't you ask yourself that? You're the one who dismisses me." Ally said. Austin sighed. Ally stopped him from walking, laying a palm on his chest. "Why are you acting like this? Why are you being different? Why are you being nice?"

"Because," Austin said, grabbing some black ray ban's and shading his eyes with them, "As of right now, I'm not Austin Moon."

"Hm, Wow, I wonder where Austin Moon went. Hey, is this him? No, No way, it couldn't be him. He's got glasses on!" Ally's voice went for a swim in sarcasm.

His grin disappeared. "Seriously?" he snarled.

Ally shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, you said to be just Ally. Well...This is her." she pointed to herself. A smile twitched on his lips.

Austin slid his hand into the pocket of her jacket and taking out her cell phone, handing it forward to her. She slowly grabbed it. Her finger tips hesitating to dial, but soon enough, she had the phone against her ear.

"Trish," Ally said, eyes glued on Austin's, "We need to reschedule that photoshoot and maybe that meeting, too." she smirked. "I can't find Austin." His lips curled upwards, too. "No, I've got this. I doubt he's gotten far."

Austin spun around on his heels, a grin on his face as he started walking away. "I'm getting farther." he called over his shoulder.

Ally held in a laugh. "Yeah," she said into the phone, "Yeah, of course. No, I'll be fine. I'll call you when I get to him." Ally hung up the phone. She watched Austin kicking pebbles on the side walk. "Hey, Rockstar!" she called. He turned around and looked at her curiously. "I've never see the Hollywood sign."

Austin's response was only a grin.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are we really allowed to be up this close?" Ally questioned, focusing on not tripping and falling to her death. The hill was rocky and bumpy, only a few more steps and she could actually touch the letters.

"Probably not, but I've learned that I'm pretty good at getting away with murder." Austin smirked.

"That must be nice." Ally said. Austin laughed.

"Help?" he questioned, reaching out his hand. She clutched his hand and he helped her take the next step, bringing her closer to him as she did so. She looked up and realized her face was a little bit too close to Austin's for her personal liking - Okay, so she did kind of like it. Not that it was ever going to be admitted.

"This is romantic." he teased.

"You're so different." Ally said, her voice gentler.

"Yeah, well, as much as it might surprise you, I'm not a total ass all the time." Austin replied.

"You're right," she said, "That does surprise me."

He chuckled. He turned around and continued the messy steps towards the sign, still having a hold on Ally's hand. With a few more grunts, the duo had gotten to the sign. Well, the back of it anyways. Austin rested his back up against the letters, breathing heavily.

"Think we dropped a few pounds?" Austin asked her. Ally laughed and nodded, standing next to him as she leaned her back against the sign.

It fell quiet between the two.

"So, what's the story?" Ally blurted.

"What?" replied Austin.

"About how you became such an ass over such a short period of time. What's the story behind it?" she questioned.

"There isn't one." Austin shook his head.

"Nobody is America's Sweetie Pie and then turns into America's Devil without some sort of story." Ally said.

"If by Devil, you mean devilishly handsome," Austin smirked, "I'll just say that maturity looks better on some of us than others."

Ally shook her head. "Oh, Come on," she said, elbowing his arm, silently wondering if she was even allowed to do so. Austin might have granted her a break, but that didn't mean she could lose all morals on him. The respect that he was still her boss was still standing. No matter how much she wished it wasn't.

He took a deep breath and exhaled quietly. "Alright..." he mumbled unsurely, "Have I ever mentioned my Mom?"

Ally slowly shook her head.

He nodded. "I was fourteen when all of this started, when Jimmy had signed me. I moved to L.A. from my hometown with my parents and Trish. Life felt good. I felt like I had everything." Long pause. "When I was sixteen, my career had just taken a leap for the better. Things felt like they had just tied together, I was so totally complete. But, um, on the way to one of my concerts one night," he licked his lips nervously, "My...My Mom had ran a red light. I told her that it was fine that she was late, but she really hated missing my concerts. They were her favourite thing. Apparently, she'd ended up hitting another car and she'd been going so fast that the car rolled and wrapped around pole. She died on impact. She was killed instantly."

Ally's eyes softened up, they liquefied into pools of regret. "Austin, I'm-"

He swallowed a lump in his throat, pushing back the stinging behind his eye lids, ignoring the throb in his chest. "But I'm kinda glad for that, you know? Glad that she didn't have to...you know, suffer. It's best she didn't know what hit her."

Ally stayed silent.

He continued after a moment, "My Dad...I don't know, he just...he's never been the same. I guess I can't expect him to; he really loved my Mom and she really loved him. Something changed in him that night. He started drinking a lot, and still does. Even after three years. I think he blames me - No, I _know _he blames me. I shouldn't have told her to come to the show. She could've just stayed home and the whole thing would've been avoided. She'd maybe still be here. I'd still have my Mom, he'd still have his wife." Something cold shaded Austin's eyes. "But what's the point of thinking about it now? It happened. It's done. I can't go back. Why live in the past when you can move forward, huh?"

Ally touched his arm for comfort, but retracted her hand when he cringed away. She swallowed, "Does your Dad come around much? I've never met him...or seen him."

Austin cleared his throat, looking away in the distance. "No. Not really, and when he does, he's usually drunk off his ass." Austin looked to his hands, fiddling with a key chain. "Isn't it funny how one moment...one small moment...can change absolutely everything?"

Ally slowly nodded. "Yeah." Her voice sounded a little bit hoarse.

He cleared his throat and looked at her. His eyes once again, void of emotion. "Does that answer your question?"

Ally slowly looked away, unable to answer him.

_Awful_. That's how she felt.

Maybe she was even disgusted with herself for asking. She should keep her nose out of his business. Her mind was still wandering through everything he'd said. She had recalled an articles regarding his mother's death, but she'd always assumed it wasn't real, that maybe it had been fiction. She wished it had been fiction.

"Sorry." Ally mumbled.

"Yeah." The word jumped out coldly.

There was a two-way silence between the duo. An uncomfortable one for Ally, but a comfortable one for Austin. He didn't mind just standing here next to her and thinking about what he'd just told her. She minded standing next to him and letting his words sink in. They were sitting in her gut uncomfortably.

"Um, if it...if it makes you feel any better...um...my mom...my mom left. When I was twelve. But my parents had been divorced since I was nine. I...I know that's not even relatively the same thing but I just-"

"-Ally." Austin interrupted, halting her words. She looked at him. "Stop." he said. She slowly nodded and looked away. "I didn't tell you so you could feel bad for me." She nodded again.

"I'm sorry about your Mom." he said, after a couple beats.

"Yeah." she replied.

"What happened?" he asked.

Ally was quite surprised he wanted to further the conversation. It made her feel uncomfortable talking about the woman she's spent so long trying to forget about, but she reasoned that he shared his story after she'd pried, it was only fair that she shared a bit of hers as well.

"Well," Ally began, "My parents starting fighting when I was eight. They had really bad fights. Sometimes my neighbors would call the police, and, well, you know, that kind of stuff." Ally shook her head, "Um, It was later when my Dad found out my mom had been cheating on him. Actually, I was the one who told him. I caught her in...in bed with some stranger and she made me promise not to tell anyone, but...I was just a kid at the time, I didn't really understand and I didn't want to lie so...I told him." She paused. "My Dad immediately filed a divorce and she moved out by the following month. She was really mad at first, but then she wasn't, I guess because she didn't have to sneak around anymore. I'm not sure.

It was months and months of back and forth, until I was about twelve. That's when, I, uh, woke up to an empty house. She left a note in the kitchen and her wedding ring. Even after the divorce, I never thought she'd take it off, but she did. I guess I never thought she'd...leave for good either. But she did that, too." Ally explained, "Then my Dad received full custody of me and the rest is history." She gave a pained smile.

At some point during the long story, the two had sat down, sitting so close that their shoulders were brushing up against one another. Neither of them moved.

"What about your Dad?" he asked her.

She smiled at the thought of him. "I love my Dad. I'll admit, he didn't like the idea of me being here, but I think he's okay. He has a girlfriend now. She's good for him."

"Do you hate your Mom?" he quizzed, his fingers subconsciously twitching towards her fingers but they didn't touch.

"My Mom made a lot of mistakes. She'll never win the best mother award, but I love her anyway." Ally replied.

"My Mom would." Austin mumbled, "You know...You remind me of her." he admitted.

Ally's eye brows twitched with surprise. "I do?" she pointed to herself.

He chuckled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. You...You, um, you made pancakes that morning." he said. Ally frowned in confusion, before a memory sparked her mind.

_/ He took a whiff of the air and something brightened in his dark irises. "Is that...pancakes?" he questioned._

_"Yeah, do you want some?" Ally offered. A shade fell over his eyes making Ally's eyes narrow with confusion._

_"No." he snapped. "No, I don't." /_

"Pancakes." she repeated.

He nodded, fiddling with his hands. "She used to make pancakes. They were my favourite. They still are, but I..." he shook his head, "I've never touched a pancake since the day she died. I can't bring myself to."

Ally looked at him. "You should've told me that."

He snorted. "I should've told you? What should I have said? Throw them in the garbage, my dead mother used to make those?"

Ally flinched. "No...I just...No." She sighed.

"You act like her sometimes," Austin said.

"Do I?" she questioned softly. Austin nodded. "How?"

"You just do. Just the way you are, how you handle things, the way you do things." Austin said. Ally smiled slightly. "She'd be so upset if she could see me."

Ally shook her head. "That's not true."

"The things I've done, the parties I've gone to, the girls I've played. She would be so mad." Austin said.

"She'd understand, Austin." Ally reasoned. He shook his head. "Do you always refuse to listen to what other people are saying?" she asked. He laughed slightly.

Another silence drifted between them. This time is was one-way. It was all comfortable, maybe even peaceful.

_**this one is like super short, but i'm really tired and i always feel like people are waiting anxiously so i might as well update now and give a little something-something instead of nothing. anyway. there's a bit of austin's story and a bit of ally's. ally still has a little more of sharing to do about her mother. austin also has a bit of catching ally up on what he's been doing over the last three years that has got him in such a cold rut, so the personal sharing has yet to be finished! i'm gonna try to work on chapter 13 a bit right now or tomorrow...not sure when it will be posted though. hopefully soon! peacing out! **_


	13. Chapter 13

Ally stood by the wall, near the back of the room. She fidgeted with her hands guiltily. She peered over at Austin through her long lashes, looking away quickly when Jimmy nearly caught her eye.

"I am sick of the disrespect I get from you." Jimmy chided. Austin tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. The corners of his lips were tilted upwards, dismissing the scolding silently. Jimmy stood up, letting out a breathy laugh as he paced, "In fact," he continued, "I'm sick of the disrespect everyone gets from you. I get no respect. Cassidy gets no respect. Trish gets no respect. Even Ally, the one who is giving your career a second chance!"

The corners of Ally's eyes wrinkled as she grimaced. The guilt felt heavy on her shoulders, and she bit her lip to prevent herself from yelping out an explanation. It wasn't entirely Austin's fault that he'd missed his photoshoot and meeting with Jimmy the other day, it was partly Ally's, too. Ally should have got him back. Ally should have told Trish everything.

But she didn't.

And now Austin was taking the heat for the entire thing.

"Jimmy-"

"Nu-uh!" Jimmy silenced Austin, "It's my turn, and sit up straight!"

Austin rolled his eyes discretely as he straightened up in his seat. "Go on." Austin muttered.

"You don't just leave after a show without telling anyone where you're going. You don't just miss a photoshoot, you don't just not show up to a meeting! You don't have Ally chasing you over the whole goddamn city looking for you!" Jimmy growled.

"It wasn't the entire city." Austin replied, smugly.

"You know, Austin, you need a kick in the ass." Jimmy snarled as Austin tried not to sigh disdainfully. "You're lucky that I own this record label, that I want you apart of _my _team! You're lucky that I know how to put up with you! Do you realize that you are _this close _to being dropped from my label?" Jimmy inched his index finger and thumb together, proving his point.

Austin's upper lip curled into a small scorn. It was too late to wipe it away. Austin was mad, and he wasn't afraid to show it. "You're overreacting."

"Am I?" quizzed Jimmy, "Last I checked, this was my label, and you're the one walking into the fire!" he sneered. "You are choosing this for yourself, Austin! You have a job. Now, do it."

Trish narrowed her eyes at Ally curiously. Ally's fingers were intertwined in front of her waist as her thumb gently rubbed her index finger, soothingly. Her lips were pressed together tightly, as if she was shushing herself from blurting out something completely ridiculous.

"Is everything okay?" she whispered into the assistant's ear.

Ally's eyes widened as she looked at Trish. She nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, everything's...everything's good. It's fine." she said, hurriedly.

Trish arched a brow. "You seem...jumpy. Is there something Austin hasn't said that you know about?"

"Nope." Ally squeaked. Trish eyed her, but let the topic drop.

"Can we get on with the meeting?" Austin spat, acidly. "I didn't come here to be treated like a schoolboy."

Jimmy inhaled through his flared nostrils, asking God for the courage not to tear Austin's head off. He cared for this boy, and he saw wonderful things in him; he just wished Austin would change his attitude, he wished Austin would appreciate things.

"Right." muttered Jimmy, taking a seat. He waved with his finger for Trish to sit down. "Well, Trish and I have decided that maybe you need some road-time." Jimmy said. "You leave for an American tour next week. We also thought that maybe you could afford to do something helpful for once, so all of the funds will be donated to charity."

"We're trusting that you don't cause trouble this time around." Trish sent him a pointed look, silently recalling in her own mind Austin's bad behavior.

"Yes, _Mom_." he teased. Trish shook her head.

"You're dismissed. Get out of here." Jimmy said with annoyance. He knew if he spent another second listening to Austin's arrogant and stupidity, he just might lash out. Austin got up from the chair and headed for the door.

Or what Ally thought was the door.

He stood in front of here, noses inches apart. A feathery smirk sat on his lips. She felt like the oxygen was trapped in her lungs. "Our first road trip together." he said, playfully, his words hit her lips hotly. He tapped her chin with his finger, making her wince at the sudden contact. Then he'd stepped away from her and exited the room.

Ally was able to exhale now that he was out of her face.

Despite his smug and teasing tone, she could sense that he was angry at Jimmy, and most likely, trying to hold his composure. She nodded once at Jimmy and Trish who were staring at her.

Trish got up from her seat, dismissing herself and Ally, the two walked out of the conference room. "That was odd." Trish said, thinking about how close Austin had stood to her.

"Yeah." Was all the assistant managed to say.

"If you need me to tell him to back off, I will. Promise." Trish offered, giving her a playful smile.

An interesting fact: Ally kind of didn't want him to back off.

She gave a breathy giggle. The simple thought of Austin being so close had her skin feeling on fire. Ally shook her head, ridding herself of the thought and followed Trish who started out an entire list of tasks for Ally to accomplish for Austin's American tour.

**x**

Ally grunted as she banged her head down on her table. She had a cup of hot coffee keeping her company as she sifted through sheets of paper. Trish had made organizing the tour schedule one of Ally's very long and horrible tasks.

She really wished Jimmy and Trish would have given her a head's up for the tour instead of throwing it at her a week before it would start.

There was a rapping at her door. Ally frowned and left the table, heading for the door. She hesitated to unlock it, wondering if seeing whoever was behind her door was worth seeing. She decides to be just and opens the door. Her eyes widening at who she sees.

A familiar blonde boy. One whom she's beginning to know very well.

"Ally."

Austin addressed her nonchalantly, stumbling inside. Ally moved out of the way and looked at him confusedly as his eyes roamed her apartment. She carefully shut the door and turned to him.

"Austin, you're...at my apartment?" she popped up one brow.

"Yup." His mouth made a loud popping sound.

She caught a whiff of something strong, something that made her cringe. "And you're drunk." she stated.

"Lock the door." Austin demanded, a small slur in his words.

Ally shook her head. "I'm not locking my door. You're leaving. Come on." She waved him to come closer but he wandered towards her living room. Ally sighed. "Austin," she called, following him. He dropped down on her couch with a thud.

"Why were you drinking?" Ally asked him, crossing her arms.

"Why do you think?" he retorted, shoving his fingers through his hair.

"Are you upset about what Jimmy said?" Ally wondered, gently.

He looked at her. "Why did I come here?" he voiced, "Why is it that I ended up here and not at Trish's? Not at Dez's? Why did I end up in this achingly small apartment?" he narrowed his eyes at her. Ally swallowed and then he cracked a smile and pointed at her. "That's why."

"What?" she lifted an eye brow, quizzically.

He shook his head. "You'll see why. Come here." he said, sitting up straight and lazily opening his arms for her.

Ally's eyes widened and shook her head. "No." she said.

"Come here," he repeated, more adamantly. Ally shook her head. He grunted and leaned his head back on the couch as he looked at her. He patted the place beside him. "Then sit here."

"Austin," she sighed, "I have work to do. I don't have time to babysit your drunken state."

"I won't remember anything tomorrow." he said, dismissively. Ally sighed and looked at him. She shook her head and went back to her kitchen table to continue getting work down. "Ally," he called, "Ally..!"

"If you're going to come to my apartment drunk, the least you can do is sit quietly while I finish work." Ally remarked. He laughed.

Ally shook her head and took her seat. She tried to focus on what she was doing, but she couldn't when her "boss" was sitting on her couch, drunk, and humming melodies to himself.

"Ally," he called again.

"What?" she growled, annoyed.

"I want to talk." There was a pout in his voice. She stopped what she was doing and looked over her shoulder towards her living room. She couldn't see him as he was laying down on the couch again, hiding his face with his palms while he sulked.

"About what?" she pressed.

"Everything. But mainly Jimmy. I want to talk bad about Jimmy."

Ally laughed slightly. "I'm not going to let you talk bad about the man who gave you your career in the first place." Ally said.

"He's a jackass." Austin voiced. "I mean, did you hear him today? Treating me like I'm a loser, a deadbeat with no life. God, I can't stand him sometimes."

Ally got up from her chair and headed into the living room area. She flopped down on the other couch and watched Austin as he mumbled incoherent things into his hands, most of them being insults about Jimmy.

"I don't blame Jimmy's wife for leaving him. I mean, the man has an opinion about everything and I can't be alone for one goddamn moment without him accusing me of...you know...stuff." Austin slurred in a huff.

"Austin, you shouldn't say-"

"-Stop it." he silenced her, attempting to point at her but having his finger thrusted in the wrong direction. "Stop it, Ally."

"Austin-"

"-I don't care about what I'm saying. I don't care because it's true." he said. Ally sighed. "And then Trish, my best goddamn friend taking his side! Does our friendships mean nothing? I know I say things to her but I always apologize. I call her almost every night and we talk about stupid things and I feel like I'm me again and then she pulls these fucking stunts! What am I supposed to think about her?"

"She's looking out for you, Austin." Ally said. "She doesn't want to take Jimmy's side over yours, but...maybe she thinks Jimmy has a point."

"Hey, Ally?"

"Yeah?"

"You're my assistant. You have to be on my side. I'm paying you to be on my side." Austin said.

"Actually, the management is paying me."

"You still have to be on my side."

"Okay."

There was a long silence. Ally thought that perhaps Austin had fallen asleep. She'd thought wrong.

"My Dad called me."

Ally looked at him. "Tonight?"

Austin nodded his head. "We haven't spoken in three months, but nobody knows that. He didn't apologize or even tell me that he missed talking. He just said that he needed money to pay his rent." Austin shook his head, a bitter laugh jumping out of his lips. "Bastard shouldn't be spending it on booze."

Ally felt her heart sink for him. She carefully got up from the couch and then kneeled down next to him, eyeing him cautiously. Austin felt her presence and removed his arms from in front of his eyes and looked over at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I'm drunk. No, I'm not okay." Austin replied. She cracked a small, sad smile. He stared at her, hesitating before asking, "Have you ever worried about me?"

"I am right now." she whispered. It really wasn't something you should be telling the man you work for, but it leapt out of her lips before she had the chance to snatch it back and swallow it.

The corner of his mouth twitched. He wanted to smile, but he wouldn't let himself. He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling.

"Come here." he repeated, not looking at her but his arm opened lazily again.

She'd felt so bad that she didn't argue this time. She got up and sat in place where he wanted her to. She felt him twist his arms around her, holding her to him. She felt his tight muscles relax. She placed her head on his shoulder, his breathing sounded uneven but relaxed. She didn't mind that he smelled strongly of alcohol.

"My Mom set our house on fire."

He frowned slightly and looked at her. "She what?"

"I was ten. She had a little too much to drink, I guess, or maybe she was fully sane, I don't remember. I was sitting in my room when I smelled this awful smell. I ran downstairs and she was asleep on the couch. There was huge flames all over the walls, completely destroying everything. There was some surrounding her, but she didn't even wake up." Ally explained.

There was a silence. Ally added softly, "I was so mad, I almost let her burn with the house."

"But you didn't." Austin replied.

Ally shook her head. "No. I didn't. I grabbed her and we ran outside. The funny thing, is that she started yelling at me like it was my fault when she was the one who fell asleep with a cigarette in her mouth."

Austin reached up and touched her face gently with the back of his fingers. "A couple years ago, I was about seventeen, Trish had thrown me a birthday party and it was the first one since my Mom had been gone. I actually had a great time, they had games, and music, and I got some pretty nice things actually. Everyone was pretty thoughtful of my Mom not being there, too. Then my dad had shown up, and he was...just drunk off his ass. He was yelling at me in front of everyone and in the middle of it, he trips on a chair and falls right into the cake, breaking the table and everything. I was so embarrassed."

"I wish my Dad was different." Austin continued, "I wish he never started drinking. I wish he could go back to the way he was before."

Ally nodded her head. "It's okay to be angry, Austin. I get angry, too."

Austin looked down at her. He nodded his head. "I know." he whispered. Suddenly, he didn't seem so drunk anymore. In fact, it was almost like the topic had drained it completely from his system.

Ally pushed herself up, placing her palms on Austin's shoulders, her face directly above Austin's. He pushed away the strands of hair that fell in front of her eyes. Her breathing was uneven, being at such a close proximity to Austin.

Ally leaned her face a little closer until she felt his breath hitting her mouth. It was odd, not having him smirking at her, not having him spewing insults, or just simply being an annoyance. But she didn't mind this.

Just before Ally's mouth met Austin's, a thought crossed her mind. It made her pull away. Austin stared up at her, confused. He decided to make a move himself, but she pushed on his chest, keeping him away. He frowned.

"You're drunk." she said, quietly.

"I'm not that drunk." he replied.

Ally shook her head. "No, Austin. We shouldn't. We can't." She scrambled to get away from him but he held her in place. "Austin, please let go."

"Why?" he asked.

"I already told you: You're drunk. You don't mean it. This whole thing is just you being out of your head. You're not yourself." she replied. "Besides, I'm your assistant. We can't...do this."

He released her as he felt her resistance grow. He sighed as she stepped away from him. He felt cold. "You could've had me, Ally." he said, breezily, tutting his tongue, a smirk grew on his face.

Ally looked over at him. There was the Austin she knew. The cocky, self-centered one. The one who wanted her, the one who was listening to her and being nice to her, that wasn't the real Austin.

But as he laid there on the couch quietly, she wondered if he was even still drunk. He seemed to have sobered up over the time that they were talking. She shook her head. Still, still she can't have him. She is his assistant, not his love interest.

"I thought it was me who was supposed to do the pushing away thing, but you do one hell of a job." Austin voiced.

Ally looked down at him. "I'm not pushing you away. You're drunk, and I'm being professional."

"Alright." Austin shrugged.

Suddenly, Ally's cell phone started ringing.

Ally grabbed it. "Hello?" she said into the device, glancing over at Austin who was watching her. "Austin? Um..." He shook his head. "No, I haven't seen him. Yeah, I'll...find him for you. Okay. Bye." Ally hung up the phone.

"Found me." he grinned. She shook her head.

"You can't be here, Austin. You need to go home." Ally said. Then she frowned, "How did you get here?"

"I drove."

"Drunk?"

"Mhm."

Ally sighed. "You can stay."

He grinned victoriously. "Good. I wasn't planning on leaving."


	14. Chapter 14

"Austin!" _Nudge._

"Austin!" _Shake._

"Austin!" _Thwack!_

Austin jumped, "Hm," he hummed, his tired lids opening up to reveal his weary, dark eyes. The blurriness of his eyesight focused on the figure in front of him. Ally.

_Ah, Ally._

_Wait...Ally?_

"Ally." Austin muttered, lifting his hand to rub his eyes, ridding them of sleep.

"Austin!" He just realized her eyes were filled with panic, wide and doe-like.

"Ally?"

Suddenly, a loud-thumping knock echoed throughout the apartment. Ally visibly cringed before her eyes grew larger than they had been before.

"_Oh no_." she whispered, "They're here."

"They?" Austin repeated, still groggy.

Ally shook her head. "We don't have time. You need to hide!" Ally cried as softly as she could. She grabbed Austin's hand, pulling him off of the couch.

"Ally, what am I doing here-"

"_Quickly_!" Ally hissed, pulling him through the apartment. "Uh, one second!" she called towards the door. "Quick, quick, quick!" She hauled him towards a closet, muttering incoherent things to herself about getting fired.

Austin spun out multiple questions: _Ally, what's going on? why am I at your apartment? Who's here? Why are you pushing me into a broom's closet? Is that a spider web? _

"Stay here and _don't _leave. Don't even move." Ally warned him, pointing her finger at him. Austin stared at her oddly. She shut the closet door in his face, leaving him alone in the dark.

Austin frowned, staring at the door and blinking twice. A broom hit his head. "Ow."

Ally raced for the door. She opened it wide, seeing Cassidy and Trish standing there impatiently. They saw Ally and immediately grinned at her. "Trish...Cassidy...When you said you'd be here in two minutes, I didn't think you literally meant _two minutes_." She laughed nervously.

"We were in the neighborhood." Cassidy replied. Ally slowly nodded. Ally's eyes glanced down and she noticed Austin's shoes. She swiftly kicked them beneath her bench and smiled tightly.

"So, uhm, did you need something? I cleared and organized Austin's schedule. Do you need it? It's the in the kitchen. I could give it to you!" Ally said, breezily, her words flopping out her mouth in a rush.

Trish shook her head, waving her hand dismissively. She side-stepped over Ally, inviting herself inside. Ally stumbled over as Cassidy and Trish walked into her apartment.

Ally gnawed on her lip nervously. She shut the door and followed them to her kitchen. She collected all the papers which held the information on Austin's American Tour and the schedules. She handed in to Trish who sifted through it.

"You did all this last night?" Trish questioned.

Ally shifted her eyes, a flashback of Austin appearing in her apartment flooded her mind. She looked back at Trish and forced a smile. "Yup!"

"Perfect, thanks, Ally." Trish smiled. "It's only ten in the morning. How about some breakfast? My treat."

"Thanks for the invite, but I really shouldn't-"

"-Oh, come on!" Cassidy teased, "What are you hiding?"

"Hiding? I'm not hiding anything. There's nothing to hide, and if I was hiding something, it wouldn't be anything important. I just..." Ally trailed off when Cassidy and Trish stared at her. She held her breath. She forced a smile. "Sounds good. How about you two wait in the car and I'll...er...get into a change of clothes."

Ally glanced down at her sweatpants and t-shirt. The girls grinned and nodded. "Be quick. I'm starving." The girls took off outside the apartment. Ally exhaled when the door was shut behind them.

She rushed to the closet and opened the door. Austin stumbled out of the closet. Ally caught him before he could lose his balance. Austin groaned, rubbing his head as he straightened out.

"That was Cassidy and Trish. I had to hide you." Ally told him, timidly.

"Yeah, I heard them." Austin replied, cringing at the after taste of alcohol stinging his mouth. He looked at her and arched a brow, "What's the story? How did I get here?" Ally opened her mouth to reply but he interrupted with a groan, "Nevermind. I need Advil."

Ally nodded her head and raced to the kitchen. Austin followed after her, collecting the small pill she placed in his hand. She poured him some water and handed it to him. He swallowed it down quickly, wincing as movement hurt his head.

Austin noticed Ally fidgeting. "What?" he asked.

"I just...I'm going for breakfast with Trish and Cassidy. I need to hurry. I don't know if they saw your car. I mean, maybe they didn't, but I should hurry before they do and-"

"-Ally."

"Yes?"

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, and go."

Ally took a deep breath and nodded her head. She looked at him and then quickly ran into her room to change. Austin shook his throbbing head.

**x**

Ally stared down at her glass of water.

She thought of Austin's smile - it was watery, too. There was something about the way he was sprawled out on her couch that made her insides twist. Maybe it was because she understood him, maybe it was because she _didn't_ understand him. She was stuck somewhere in between.

Then her thoughts metastasize into a flashback. His lips, her eyes. His arms tangled around her waist, her hands on his shoulders. Her face right there and his face right there.

And a final thought: _She should've kissed him._

She wasn't glad that she didn't. She had an underlying curiosity for what his mouth felt like and how much passion he would reply to her with could have answered so many things. Besides, it wasn't like he would remember it. There wouldn't be an awkwardness - he wouldn't remember! She would just live with the tingle and move on from it. So simple, so easy.

Non-sense. She's his assistant. She can't think that way. But he did want that kiss as much as she did, drunk or not.

Snapping fingers in front of her face caught her attention. Ally looked up and saw two expectant faces staring at her. "Hm?" she hummed in response.

"Where'd you go?" Cassidy asked.

Ally shook her head. "Nowhere important." _But it kinda was._

Trish and Cassidy exchanged solid glances. Ally arched a perfectly trimmed eye brow. Cassidy nudged Trish, giving her some sort of silence encouragement. Ally's stomach dropped worriedly.

Trish gave Ally comforting look that was short-lived. Then she'd sighed and looked Ally in the eyes. "Look, Ally," she began, "We know you knew where Austin was last night."

Anxiety. "What? Why would you...say such a thing?"

Ally holding her breath proved she was hiding something.

"We saw his car." Cassidy replied.

Ally exhaling marked her blown cover.

"You're not in trouble." Trish said, quickly, noticing the look in her eyes. "Did he ask you to lie for him?"

"No." Ally replied. "He needed someone and I was there. After all, I am his personal assistant."

"Ally, he's my best friend." Trish reminded, "I know him. I have since before he got into this business so I know how he is, what he does." Trish let out a sigh. "He's deceiving, often a liar, cocky, insolent, and finally, he _doesn't _care about anyone."

Ally just remembers his story about his seventeenth birthday. His father. The destroyed cake. His mother's absence. She's quiet for a moment.

And then, "No, I don't think you know him at all."

**x**

"I was thinking something like this." Ally said, playing a couple chords, "and maybe it could be like: _I'm so mixed up / there's no doubt / Got me feeling like I'm inside out._" she sang delicately. Ally glanced over at Austin and saw him staring straight ahead at the wall, eyes glazed. "Austin," she snapped, "Are you even listening?"

"Hm? Yeah. Yeah, I am. That sounded great." Austin said, but Ally wasn't too gullible. She frowned at him. She wrote down the lyrics onto the sheet of paper anyways.

Ally put down her pencil, turning with her full and undivided attention settled on him."What?" she pressed.

He shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing." He touched the finger tip of his index finger on a pianos key. The sound was fragile, high-pitched, and out of rhythm. His distracted manner made Ally narrow her eyes.

"The song?" she gestured, offering to let go of the topic and continue working but he never responded. They sat in a vast silence.

"Your Mom..." he finally said, capturing Ally's attention quickly, "What did you do?" he questioned, "When she...she yelled at you after the fire. What did you do?"

Panic crawled up her throat. "You...You remember that?" she coughed.

He nodded his head. He gave her a tired grin. "I guess I wasn't as hammered as I thought."

But his headache was pretty bad this morning and he didn't remember too much. Just that he had said some pretty personal things and that he woke up with a strange feeling of wanting her for some reason. It could've been that echoing dream of her hair falling around his face with her mouth so close to touching his. He wished for it to be a memory, but he knew better. It probably wasn't.

Ally felt stiff and out of sorts. "Um." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "I don't know. I just...I let it happen. There wasn't anything I could do. I was ten."

He nodded his head in understanding. "Should I let him do it?"

"What?"

"My Dad. Should I let him push me around the way he does? I make up excuses for him, like, he's not in the right frame of mind to think about what his words or his actions." Austin told her. "I can see the regret in your eyes when you talk about your Mom."

"Oh?" She was kind of breathless.

He read her easily, like she was a children's book - a more complicated version, of course. She felt exposed, like there was nothing she could do to lock herself up because she kept breaking out somehow. She mentally scolded herself and focused on staring down at the words she'd written.

"I...I don't...I guess, I guess it's up to you." She wished she'd stop stammering. "Love your Dad, Austin," she finally sums up softly, "Just love him."

Austin hesitates for a long while, before letting out a growl, "I do." He wished he didn't.

"Don't make up excuses for him. Don't let him push you around, say mean things, do stupid things. Don't let him." Ally swallowed. "But don't stop loving him."

His eyes narrowed, unsure of how to respond. It was crazy for her to think Austin would stop loving his father. After all, he _was _Austin's father, his mother's husband. The man who helped bring him into the world, the man who allowed him and encouraged him on his dreams. Austin couldn't imagine not loving him, no matter what he did.

Ally drifted away. Somewhere far, somewhere painful.

_/ /_

_Her little poet heart was bitter._

_She'd said some pretty un-reversible things. That was the downside of words, Ally told herself, good or bad - both can leave a permanent mark. _

_Her mother was passed out again, after a pretty good swap of words with Ally. Ally didn't see anything wrong with what she'd said; it had all been true. Her mother was selfish. Her mother was a screw up. Her mother was one of those embarrassing moments at the party._

_And Ally had said them all out loud._

_Her mother's face had twisted into hurt, anger, betrayal. "Who do you think you are thinking you get to talk me like that? Say those kinds of things? I'm your damn mother!" A few of those were slurred._

_It was all too ironic. _

_Ally searched deep in her gut for sincerity, pity, apology, but she'd found nothing. Just a hollow ache, just the cruel twist of anger making her see red. _

_She wasn't even sure where she'd found the courage and confidence to spew out, "Oh? We're doing that now?" _

_That was not what her mother pictured her twelve year old daughter saying. She'd sounded too mature. Too wise. Too old. Too __**spoiled**__! Maybe it would have to be on a rainy day for her to see that Ally was all of those things, but only because her mother refused to parent and chose to party instead._

_"Allyson-"_

_"It's Ally." She immediately snapped back._

_"I know your goddamn name!" Her mother cried, rage making her voice sound full._

_"Not last night." Ally visible winced at the memory of her mother laying on the front yard, trying to say Ally's name but appearing unable to get the pronunciation right._

_Her mother shook her head. She didn't recall last night so she found it hard to understand what Ally's reference was to. _

_Ally shook her head. Being twelve didn't push away the fact that Ally was bitter and angry towards her mother, that there was no empathy or pity swishing around in her guts, that there was simply no love there anymore. _

_Her heart felt hard and cold, and simply out of sorts. _

_Her mother had pulled the rug from beneath her feet so many times and never once held out a hand to help her daughter back up. That was her father's job, and sometimes even just simply Ally's own job. Ally didn't mind dusting herself off, though, she wasn't so sure she wanted her mother's grubby hands all over her anymore. _

_Ally's palms bled from her fingernails cutting into the skin of her fisted hands. Now it was getting harder to breathe, the rage sat on her chest so stiffly. Before Ally could stop herself, she already gritted her teeth and snarled, "I hate you so much. I hate you. I hate you." Then she fell into a small weep, cheeks dry but eyes wet, "Mom, I hate you."_

_/ _

There was something on her cheek. A raindrop. A tear.

"Ally?"

She numbly looked up at Austin, having gone so far into her head she hadn't realized his hand on her shoulder or the fact that her eyes had gotten really, _really _wet. She sniffed quickly, forcing a smile and smudging her tears with the pad of her thumb.

"Oh, um, let's get back to the song. Yeah, I think...I think these...words are good." Ally said, trying to get the stinging in her chest to wear off.

He was quieter than normal. While Ally tinkered with the melody a bit, almost like she didn't notice that the trembling of her hands made it sound a little too off. But even if she did notice it, she'd decided that the sound was better than paying attention to the salt she'd just rubbed right back into the wound she thought had been sealed up. Guess it hadn't been.

"Where'd you go?" he asked her.

Ally stopped playing, swallowed hard, and then started playing again. "Um, We could...We could go like: _It's funny when I'm here with you / I wouldn't change a thing_." she sang, sounded a little bit stale. "Now, we need to just-" She stopped and looked at her wrists. His hands wrapped around them tightly.

She looked up at him and suddenly he just wanted nothing more than to just kiss those sad eyes. He knew she wasn't okay. Whatever place she went to inside her head had left some sort of scar on her and he wondered if he was the one who opened it again.

He blurted, "I get it. You can tell me, because I get it."

She wondered why he was putting the lump in her throat. He hadn't let go of her hands. "Why'd you come to my house last night, Austin?" Her voice was more hoarse than she wished it had been.

"Because I know that you get it, too." he replied instantly. "I told you things that I haven't even told Trish."

"Because I get it?" she asked. He nodded. She gave him a watery smile, it didn't quite reach her eyes. She shook her head. "We need to work on this song. Jimmy wants it recorded before the tour."

He didn't want her to shut the door on him. He knows that he's been a jackass, he knows that he had no right to butt in on her personal life, he knows that she had every single right and reason to not want to share anything with him, but he just wished she would.

He sighed slightly. He played some keys on the piano, correcting some that she'd scratched down to create more of a sound that was his style. It was kind of quiet, besides the sound of the piano and occasionally Ally telling him words she'd thought of, and even the sound of the pencil scribbling onto the paper.

And then, "You don't stop loving somebody," Ally voiced, not looking up from the lyrics she'd written, "Because once you do, that's when they leave."

He stopped playing the piano. "Your Mom could've stayed, Ally."

"But she didn't."

"She could have, Ally, and it had nothing to do with you." Austin stated, "My Dad doesn't have to drink, but he does, and it has nothing to do with me. That's what he chose. That's what your Mom chose."

"Why?" Ally questioned, more to thin air than to Austin, "Your Dad drinks because he's sad, my Mom drank just because she wanted a good time."

"You'll never know why it had to happen, Ally. Don't beat yourself up trying to figure it out." Austin said. "I'll never know why my Mom had to die, just like you'll never know why your Mom started to drink. But we can't live in the past. That's what a future is for."

Ally didn't know what else to say, so she gave him a small smirk, "I didn't know you were so inspiring."

"Is that what I am?" he replied, one corner of his mouth lifted higher than the other. Ally laughed. "Tell me something, Ally."

"Anything."

"Did you try to kiss me last night?" he wondered.

"No." Oh, thank God her voice was level.

He shrugged. "What a weird dream." he mumbled, but she still heard him.

She willed her cheeks not to turn pink.


	15. Chapter 15

He was close.

Like real close.

And she was fixing a button on his shirt and answering a phone call with the other hand, and _shit,_ she was excellent at multi-tasking. She's spitting out words so fast into the receiver that he hardly has time to understand what she's saying. Obviously, the caller on the other end was in the same boat because Ally stomps her feet slightly and her lips curl with a moment of contempt and she repeats what she's saying a little slower.

It's all work related and she doesn't wait to see if the caller had caught it this time; she hangs up, throwing the phone onto a couch. Ally spins him around, pushing him abruptly out of the dressing room.

"Ally, Ally, Ally." Austin says, trying to put friction on his feet to stop her from her current task.

"What?" she snaps, glancing at the clock which reads 4 minutes until show time. She taps her foot and gives him an incredulous look.

"Relax." he smirks, having turned and faced her.

"I'll do that when you get to make up." she said.

"Makeup _shmakeup_!" Austin chirped.

"You have a zit and you'll be on camera." Ally informed him, eyes falling over to the zit located just to the bottom of his cheek.

Austin's finger subconsciously grazed the flaw on his cheek just as he shrugged, not seeming to find it all too harmful. He recalled the view of it in the mirror this morning. Hardly noticeable. Well, unless you were standing in Ally's position.

Face to face.

Up close.

A _very _small gap between two warm bodies.

Austin could reach out and twist his arms around her frame and pull her chest to chest with him - hell, he wanted to, but he couldn't. Not on the job, not when he has four - actually, three - minutes until show time.

"It's not about the appearance, Ally." His almond shaped - and colored - eyes stared down at her with a teasing glint to them.

She rolled her eyes and let them get stuck on the view of her watch, which was ticking away. He needed to be in makeup pronto. Those were orders from management. She could already feel the buzzing of their texts in her left pocket.

Her heart halts when she feels his fingers on her chin, forcing her to look up to him and away from that darn watch. He swears nobody even wears those anymore. She not so easily gives in and looks him in the eye. She makes herself appear as nonchalant as possible.

He touches the pulse in her neck. It's racing and he narrows his eyes on it oddly. He wasn't doing that to her. Not somebody like him. Maybe Austin had an ego, one that wasn't easily tamed, but Ally sure made him feel less than inadequate sometimes.

"Your heart is racing."

"I had caffeine." she blurts. It's a straight faced lie, but he buys it simply with a nodding of his head. He taps the pulse with his index finger and lazily gets the smirk onto his lips again.

She looks at him and notices an eye lash on his cheek. It's fallen uniquely silent between the duo. She can't feel his breath, but she can hear it. It's not quite a pant, but nonetheless, irregular and she shyly tells herself that he's anxious to perform. She wasn't the one doing that to him.

Kinda like he told himself that the upbeat pulse in her neck wasn't at all due to their closeness.

"You need to get to makeup." Ally tells him and his smirk lifts a little. She's a tad breathless, unless her tone was fibbing to itself.

"How many minutes?" he quizzed gently. He wasn't quite sure why he had stopped her in the first place. Had he needed something? He can't remember, but he's pretty sure it had something to do with staring at her pretty face.

And he wasn't one to be cheesy, so what the _hell _is going on?

She looked a little bit like a dork, lifting her wrist to gaze down at her wristwatch again. "It'll be two minutes in thirty seconds."

He slowly nodded. He's about to tell herself, but he glances over her shoulder and sees Trish watching him, big hawk eyes and a mouth curled into a frown. His best friend wasn't being much of a friend lately and he swore he was 3 music notes away from confronting her. He didn't want his manager. He wanted his friend. And his friend would notice that he wasn't playing this time. His friend would notice that Ally is doing things to him that he can't even comprehend yet, that he didn't even _notice _yet.

Her mouth forms the stiff word: 'Stage'.

He clears his throat and looks at Ally who was eyeing him oddly, noticing his pregnant pause. He gives her a feathery smile. Ally's eye brow quirk quickly in surprise before relaxing again; she hadn't expected that smile. "I guess I should do something about this zit."

She laughed slightly, and maybe he heard it wrong, but it sounded a tad shy. "I guess so." she crosses her arms behind her back. Austin scampers off to makeup just as Ally's phone rings.

She speaks quickly. "Ally Dawson."

"I was told to contact this number." It's a male's voice. Ally pulls out her organizer with her freehand, ready to book something if need be. Ally nodded her head and as if the unknown person had seen her, he continued, "I want a visitation to see Austin. I don't know when he's available, since he's considerably always so busy." There's friction in her chest and she doesn't know why. An odd taste fills her mouth, something like nostalgia, like she remembers a voice sounding so much like this. The kind of voice she hates to remember.

"A visitation?" she echoes, keeping herself as emotionally detached as she can. Cassidy had coached her to never allow curiosity, resentment, fear, or excitement inside the tone of voice. Accordingly, it was unprofessional.

"Yeah." She hears something glug and it makes her flinch.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm just looking for an explanation." Her voice is honey smooth and polite, so she wonders why the male on the other end had scoffed at her reply.

"I don't need to explain myself to see my son, now do I?" she almost _feels _the male's spit, "Give me a time and I want to see him."

She freezes up.

_Visitation. Austin. Son. _

Oh, for Goodness sake.

Something swells inside her chest, but it's not sweet or full of butterfly wings. It's more like broken winged moths, or tar, or something not-so-nice gripping her sternum.

"Oh, I, um," she stumbles over an appropriate response. He chuckles arrogantly on the other end. It doesn't bother her too much. At least not more than the remembrance of the look on Austin's face bothered her. Those angry, sad eyes. Those flustered words falling out his confused lips. That drunken tongue. The blonde hair that stuck up in different directions from all the times he'd probably ran his fingers through it.

Ally gnawed on her cheek. The music starts to boom through concrete walls and she winces at the sound of Austin greeting his crowd. Ally looked over to the clock on the wall. She should've been with him. He's exactly one minute late for the show.

"Sorry," she laughs breezily, the sound ten pounds of nerves full. "He's actually, um, away right now. He's on an American tour. So, I mean, unless you...you, um...you..." Was she allowed to book this? She couldn't without Austin's consent. Had this been Jimmy Kimmel or David Letterman or Kelly and Michael or any other famous interviewer she might have done it without a grimace or second thought but this was Austin's _father _and she knew quite well how he viewed his father.

He didn't even pressure her through. He kept glugging whatever drink was in his hand. She could hear him breathing heavily through his nose and gulping the contents loudly. She winced again.

"I need to check with Austin." she blurted quickly. "I have to run this by him. See if it's okay."

The man gulps his drink again, exhaling loudly. "It will be." She hears the glass bottle clank against his front teeth.

"No...No, I really need to confront him first." she insisted, "New regulation." she lied smoothly.

"I'm his goddamn father, let me see my son." he snarled and Ally flinched.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Moon, um, I'm sure he'll be fine with it. It really is a regulation." Ally grimaced.

"Well, then," he sighed with aggravation weaved through it, "Ask him then."

"He's actually performing right now, but I'll definitely tell him right away." Ally said, already fearing the moment when she would have to tell Austin.

"Alright then." he muttered, irritated. "What's your name?" He slurred that bit.

It sounded like a song. The kind that played over and over again, simply stuck in your head. _What's your name. What's your name. What's your name._

/

_Ally smiled as she stared down at the new notebook. Her father had bought it for her and drew a large, detailed 'A' on the front, symbolizing her first name. It wasn't all that pretty, but it was enough. Ally certainly still loved it. She never cared for fancy gifts much, just the thought of them. That's always what counts in the end - the thought._

_She hears a laugh. It's wild and drunken and free. But it hangs and clacks in Ally's like silver spoons. She suddenly feels like running back home to her Dad, but he had just driven out to the airport for his business trip._

_Something very cold rubs on her heart and it burns. Her feet don't feel weightless anymore, they're like brick and she's struggling to drag them to her mother's house. She fills her lungs with the fresh air as she looks heavenward, silently questioning God on this one, on why he gave her such a mother. Her lungs feel cold and stiff, but she manages to breathe. She always manages to breathe._

_"Oh, hey...hey...yeah, hey baby." The giggle's are maniac and Ally used to join in with her mother's contagious laughter but after a while, things stopped being funny._

_"Mom." Ally replied, her mouth shaped into a disappointed curl. _

_"Hey...Hey you." She gives her daughter a bold point with her finger tip. _

_Ally self-consciously glances towards the neighbors house. They're peeking out their window from behind the curtains. Ally's eyes slowly shift back to her mother, who is drunk, sprawled across the lawn. She is still laughing. _

_"Abby-cat..." she giggles and incoherently talks to herself, "No...No...Allah..." she laughs loudly at that one and Ally's fist curls. But she's so patient. She waits, standing there on the side walk, staring at her mother, notebook clutched into her arm. She's already got piles of words centered in her brain and she can't wait to run inside and just get them all out. She can't wait to not see this anymore._

_"Amy...Amy? Amy..." Penny's eyes sparkle brightly in awe. She mumbles more incoherent and slurred words. She giggles again and looks at her daughter, drunk and tired. "Addie," she doesn't laugh this time, "A...A...hm..." she smirks, but she's tired of laughing. She lets her head fall on the grass. She shakes her head. "What's your name?" Ally's not supposed to hear it, but does anyway._

_Ally runs inside._

_/_

Ally swallowed. "Ally."

Mike mutters about recalling her having said that at the beginning of the conversation and merely chuckles to himself. "You ask him and you get me a visitation to see him. Okay, Ally?"

"Yes, absolutely." Ally nods.

There's a click. Ally stares at a TV screen for a moment before finding it in her to hang up, too. She exhaled slowly, combing her fingers through her brown mane as she reasoned silently on how to destroy his night by explaining that his father called.

She takes a deep breath and heads away to the kitchen. She was ordered to be backstage at all times in case of emergencies, but Ally really wanted respectful quiet time to sum up exactly how she'd break it to him.

**x**

She's stirring the coffee; round and round, round and round, round and round.

"Wow. You're making me dizzy."

She almost crawls out of her skin and he laughs at the expression on her face. She quickly looks back and curses under her breath. She had spilled the coffee that she'd only spent an hour stirring. It was already cold.

"Whoops." Austin smirked.

Ally gave him a narrowed look. He chuckled slightly and searched through a few drawers until finding a rag. He tossed it at her and she ran it under the sink. She carefully wrung it out and robotically placed it down on the mess, watching the coffee soak up.

Austin eyed her. There was something off. It was practically in the air. Not to mention, she wasn't where she was supposed to be and Ally was always where she was supposed to be.

But he refused to say anything. She was his personal assistant, not his friend. She would tell him what was important and if it didn't concern him then, well, he'd have to suck it up. He helped dab up the mess, glancing over at her every now and again. She had drifted inside her thoughts and it wasn't hard to notice.

He nudged her. She looked up at him. He lifted an eye brow. She gave a small but tight smile in response. "I'll make you a new one. You should shower. You're sweaty." she said.

_There is something on her mind. There is something on her mind. There is something on her mind. _His subconscious chanted to him, but he throttled the thought as he nodded at her. He dabbed the counter a couple times before leaving the duty up to her like she was insisting through mumbles.

His feet walked him to the door, but his mind and curiosity was still standing next to her. He glanced over his shoulder at her. Her mouth was in a thin line, pressed together. He shrugged to himself and walked off to his dressing room to have a shower.

Ally let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She shook her head.

"Ally."

She jumped again and saw Trish by the doorway. She smiled slightly. "Hey."

"Sorry to scare you." Trish laughed softly. Ally shook her head. She looked down to the rag that was soaking up a mess. Trish bit down on her lip before saying, "Austin was just here."

"Yeah. I know." Ally smiled slightly.

"Was there a reason?" she questioned, trying to put such little suspicion into her voice as possible.

Ally shrugged and took the dirty rag to the sink, running water on it. "Not really," Ally replied, "He scared me, too," she laughed gently, "Thus the mess, but other than that. I don't really know what he wanted. We didn't say much. Never really do."

_Half-lie_.

"Really?" Trish questioned.

Ally sighed. "Trish, is there something you want to ask me?" she blurted. Trish's eyes got a little more round. She hadn't expected Ally's outburst. "You seem concerned about something. You've been following Austin around like a lost puppy since the tour started and I'm not body language expert but I think he's getting annoyed," Pause, "And I'm sorry to say it, but I'm getting annoyed. With your constant questions."

Trish grimaced. "I'm sorry."

Ally nodded, searching the kitchen for a dish towel. Trish opened a drawer and handed one to her. Ally smiled thankfully.

"Look, Ally, I am sorry. Honest. I don't mean to badger. It's just...Consider it a friendly deed." Trish said.

"A friendly deed?" Ally laughed slightly.

"Yeah. From me to you." Trish smiled. It faltered slightly. "I know Austin, Ally. I've been there for his ups and his downs. I know everything there is to know about him and I love him. I really do, but I am not going to let him waste you."

"Waste me?" Ally looked at Trish, an eye brow raised.

"Austin goes through assistants like he goes through takeout food." Trish deadpanned.

Ally shook her head. "Austin's not wasting me. I'm never going to leave. I kind of enjoy this job, to be honest." Ally admitted.

Trish's eyes grew. "You...You do?"

Ally laughed slightly, "Well, Yeah. I mean...It's the best pay I've ever gotten, I'm living in L.A., I'm working as a songwriter now, and I've made some cool friends." Ally smiled.

Trish closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and blurting, "Is there something going on between you and Austin?"

As if on cue, the door had opened. Both girls jumped as a thunderous Austin burst into the room. "I knew it!" he growled, pointing at his manager.

"Austin," Ally stammered.

He ignored his assistant, focusing in on his manager. "You've been following me around because you can't believe, for one little second, that I might not be getting into trouble!" he snarled.

"Austin." Trish sighed.

"No, Trish. You think I've been messing with her, don't you?" Austin spat, "You think I'm sleeping with her!"

"Austin!" Trish exclaimed, eyes wide.

He laughed bitterly. "You don't trust me. You think I can't be trusted for even a minute."

Something exploded in Trish's chest. She felt her face get hot with anger. "Trust you? Austin, you've been into nonsense for two years! I tried to trust you! Mistake, after mistake, after mistake, until I finally can't anymore! How many times are we going to get a call that you've slept with a fan, or some lonesome girl at a bar, or that you've been spotted on the streets drunk or punching some homeless guy?"

"No, Trish, you don't get it! You think you have a take on all of this, but you don't! You don't have a _fucking clue_!" Austin was beginning to lose his cool. Ally flinched at his raised voice. Not Trish, even despite how close she was standing to Austin, she didn't move a muscle. She was stone solid.

"I don't have a clue? I've literally been picking up your ass since this entire thing started!" Trish growled. "I was the one who was always ripping your ass away from a bar fight or when you decided on filling your lungs with filth! I was the one throwing your practically-limp body onto a bed when you were so drunk you couldn't see straight and not once did I get a thank you!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Austin said, narrowing his eyes at her, "_Thank you, Trish_."

Trish's fists balled at the amount of arrogance in his voice. She let out a scoff. "You're fucking welcome!" she snapped, "If it wasn't for me, you'd have your ass in a dumpster! I'm the one looking out for you!"

"Looking out for me?" he scoffed, "From what? From Ally's schedule? From getting road rash when I trip over my feet after a party?"

Ally awkwardly stood there, looking between the two whose voices were growing louder within each bicker. She contemplated texting Cassidy for help, but she was currently too afraid to move. Austin looked like he was going to tear a door from the wall and Trish looked like she was going to tear bones out of the skin of _anyone_.

"I'm tired of this! I've tried to be there for you! I've tried to be there when you had no designated driver, or when you let another assistant fall through the cracks, when you were too busy knocking the teeth out of some stranger, when Jimmy was pulling the daylights out of you!" Trish gritted her teeth.

Austin stared down at her. He shook his head.

"What?" shrieked Trish, "What could there possibly be left to argue about?"

"Where were you?" he ground out, the anger so evident in his voice that his teeth practically clattered. "I mean, when I needed it, when I needed my best friend. Where were you?"

Trish shook her head, staring at him confused.

"You know, when Mom died." He somehow remained as detached from the sentence as possible. "Where were you? Were you scraping to make ends meet when I took a break? Were you counting all the tickets that weren't selling? Were you calculating when exactly the next album could be released?"

"Austin." Trish said, gently.

"Wait," Austin said, pausing for dramatic effect, "You weren't there."

"Yes, I was. I..." she trailed off, unable to address the situation.

Austin shifted, grabbing onto the counter behind him and staring down at his feet. He shook his head. "For what? The first three months until I started to drink? Then it got easier to take care of me, right? All you had to do was give me Advil in the morning and everything was fine. It was so much easier to say you were there for me when I was acting like a selfish ass."

"That's not..." Trish shook her head, her words floundering in her mouth.

Austin laughed bitterly, although it appeared more as a scoff. "You don't have a _fucking clue _what I deal with."

Flustered, Trish stumbled out, "How...How did this conversation turn into this?" she asked him, laughing slightly but afraid to meet his eyes. She wasn't afraid to see what lied there: Hurt, disgust, pain, anger.

Austin took a deep breath and finally let the air fall silent for a good few moments. He glanced over at Ally from behind the blonde swoop of his bangs. She was standing there, uncomfortable, holding her one arm against her side, a tea towel clutched in her hand, yet she still held a certain amount of passion in her eyes. She looked over to him and her face softened when she found him looking at her. One corner of her mouth lifted before it faltered again.

He might have detached any other emotion besides anger from his voice, but she got it. She knew what he was hiding. He looked away to stare down at his feet again. He didn't like that he was vulnerable under the spotlight of her gaze, but at the same time, he appreciated it.

"Austin, I didn't..." Trish sighed, "I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else to say. I didn't know what else to do at the time. You were...really sad and I tried. Maybe it didn't feel like it, but you were my best friend and I tried and if that's not enough for you, I don't know what is."

That angered him, but there was a numb feeling crowding his chest from all the yelling. He didn't look at her. Trish excused herself, leaving the kitchen.

"Your Dad called."

It was a squeak, her voice hardly heard at all.

Austin looked over at Ally. She was still standing there, practically using one arm to hug herself. She glanced at him nervously.

He scoffed and looked away. "Well, that's just fucking perfect now, isn't it?" he spat, leaving the kitchen with a slam of the door.

Ally grimaced.


	16. Chapter 16

Although the door didn't squeak, Austin sensed Ally's entrance.

She found him sitting on a couch, guitar in his lap. He'd showered by now.

She fiddled with the ring on her index finger, gnawing on her bottom lip. She wasn't sure how to address this situation, or even if _Austin_ wanted to address the situation.

There were a few beats of a pure-at-heart silence.

"He wants to see you." she informed him, quiet and gentle.

Austin nodded his head, arching his eye brows with false interest. He twisted a tuning peg of his guitar, his thumb roaming down the six strings. He hadn't looked at her.

When he didn't reply, she continued, "What are you going to do?"

"Well, what would you do?" he questioned back, finally glancing over at her. There was no emotion in his eyes and it made her feel stiff and uncomfortable.

"I don't know." she replied.

Even the smallest thought of Ally's mother attempting any contact with her ever again made Ally's lip feel like curling out in disgust.

She forced any of her own thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the blonde boy who wasn't paying her any attention. Instead, he seemed to have something going on with his guitar. He played a quiet melody.

Ally focused on his hand that seemed to go white in the knuckles. He'd stopped playing, his fist curled tightly. A muscle in his jaw jumped. "What was he like?"

Ally frowned slightly in confusion. "Sorry?"

He looked at her, eyes flat and cold. Angry. "My Dad. What was he like?" he repeated, his words thicker and slipped through gritted teeth.

Ally stood there for a moment. She looked at him and winced, "I think he was drinking."

She knew he didn't want to hear that, but she wasn't going to lie to him.

Austin's lip curled out bitterly as he let out a humorless snort. "Right." His tone was hard. He looked away from her and focused back on his guitar. "Call him back and tell him to go screw himself."

Her eyes got round. "Austin..."

"You heard me." Austin replied.

Ally shook her head. "Austin, I don't think...I mean...Maybe you should just-"

"Ally." Austin barked, his tone sounding like a fresh warning.

Ally stayed silent.

He watched her for a moment before repeating, "Call him back and tell the bastard I don't want to see him."

Ally swallowed and nodded her head. "Right away." she obeyed.

Feeling something burning in his chest and then a small leap, Austin suddenly said, "Not yet."

Ally looked at him, confused. Her lips formed a cute little 'O' shape.

He shook his head at her and pointed to a couch. "Sit."

Ally hesitated before doing as she was told. She carefully walked to the couch he'd directed her to sit at. She sunk into the furniture and it felt good to finally stop running around. She knew it wouldn't last long though, she was sure Cassidy or Trish would be calling her any minute to run an errand. She was kind of hoping they would. She almost couldn't stand the tension in the room.

Austin went back to his guitar, strumming melodies and, whether they were in tune or not, Ally listened.

It was a couple more minutes before Austin turned to look at her, "Stop watching me like a hawk."

She flushed slightly. "Sorry." She waited a moment before asking, "Are you okay?"

He looked away from his guitar to look at her. A smirk fell on his lip. "You coming to save the day? Coming to save me?" he asked. She almost huffed with disappointment from his attitude.

Ally rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Trish is your best friend and that was a pretty big fight."

"It wasn't a fight." Austin shook his head. "We were resolving..._issues_."

"Are you guys good?" Ally questioned, silently hoping that they had made things right again.

"I don't know. I don't care." Austin said, cringing slightly. Ally shook her head. She knew he cared, but she also knew he wouldn't dare say it out loud.

"Trish seemed upset." Ally voiced, "I saw her a little before I came here. You two should...well, work it out. You're best friends, after all."

Austin shook his head. "Can you be quiet for just a moment?" Austin hissed, tired of the non-stop jabber coming from his assistant. She was a hen party, constantly speaking her mind and mothering him.

Ally sighed, restraining the urge to roll her eyes at him. She let her head rest on the back of the couch. She stared at the ceiling. "You know, if you just acknowledged your problems you'd have, well, less problems."

"So, you're my therapist now, too?" Austin retorted.

Ally gave him a sour look. "Seems like it, doesn't it?"

He ignored her reply. "I thought I told you to be quiet."

"If you wanted quiet, you would have let me leave." she replied.

"Just because you want quiet, doesn't mean you want to be alone." he mumbled, strumming gently on his guitar again.

Ally shook her head. She stood up. "You need to be in the car in thirty minutes. We need to get to the hotel."

"I asked you to stay." Austin frowned as he watched her head to the door.

Ally kept walking. "Yeah, you did."

Something leapt in his chest as she got nearer to the door. He grumbled under his breath, swallowing his pride. "Goddammit, Ally, just stay!" he snapped, watching her steps become slower until she finally stopped. "I...I want to talk." He let out a sigh.

Ally slowly turned on her heels to face him. She arched a brow. "About what?" she pressed. Austin stared at her, not responding. "Fine, then, I'll see you in thirty minutes." Ally said, turning again.

"Jesus Christ, Ally! Just sit down!" Austin growled. "I don't know what to talk about, I don't _want_ to talk. I just...I just want you_ here_." The frustration sounded loud in his tone.

Ally stopped reaching for the door and let her hand drop to her side. She slowly turned to look at him, a gentle expression on her face. She wanted a reason as to why he had to stay with him, and maybe that wasn't the reason she was looking for, but it was enough.

She'd never had somebody, a male other than her father, _want_ her. She was slightly in awe.

"Dear God, Ally, don't look at me like that." he spat, rolling his eyes heavenward and looking away from her. He focused on his guitar again, "Just sit down and be quiet." He struck a note out of tune.

"Alright." she murmured, dropping onto the couch diagonal of him again.

He glanced at her again, then placed his gaze back to his guitar once more and started playing a random melody. He played for a while, the sound becoming heavier and heavier until he was holding onto the frets so tightly that he felt it piercing the skin in his finger tips.

He was so angry.

He was so angry that his father had the audacity to contact his assistant after their last encounter. He was angry that his father wanted to see him. He was angry that Ally got to hear the sound of his _drunken _voice. He was angry that his father was drinking in the first place. He was angry that Trish fought with him. He was angry that Ally had to listen. He was angry that Trish didn't understand. He was angry that Ally did.

"God," he snarled under his breath, tossing his guitar away from him and onto the floor. He slumped in the couch, glaring a hole into the wall. His jaw was clenched and his blood was boiling. It seemed Ally finally learned how to sit quiet.

She tapped her fingers lightly on the arm of the couch. Her eyes stared down at the floor as she thought about Austin's fight with Trish and then his father. She honestly felt bad for him.

"Where will be heading tomorrow?" asked Austin, finally breaking the comfortable silence.

"Phoenix." Ally replied. He nodded.

"I don't want to see him." Austin said, after a hesitation. Ally nodded. "I just want him to go away, or get better, or...leave me alone. I don't know. I just want him to stop."

"I know." she murmured. "I understand."

"I wish you didn't." he muttered, honestly.

It tugged on something in her chest. "I wish I didn't either."

Once again, it was silent. Nothing heard but the sound of Austin's angry breaths as his mind kept traveling back to every mistake his father has ever made. It seemed like only seconds had passed when Ally was informing him they needed to get to the car.

He'd stared out the window the entire time. Trish had kept her nose inside some business papers, occasionally passing him a glance. Ally focused on sending out some thank you tweets to Austin's die-hard fans. Cassidy looked around at everyone with an eye brow arched high. She shook her head muttering a simple _what the hell happened?_

Safe to say, it was a _really _long drive to the hotel.

**x**

Her fingers were light on the piano.

The empty stadium echoed the pretty sound back to her ears, having Ally feeling appeased with such a melody.

_When you're alone and life is making you lonely_

_You can always go downtown_

_When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry_

_Seems to help, I know, downtown_

_Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city_

_Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty_

_How can you lose?_

_The lights are much brighter there_

_You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares_

_So go downtown_

_Things will be great when you're downtown_

_No finer place for sure, downtown_

_Everything's waiting for you_

Her voice sounded elegant. Something like a fork gently hitting the rim of a wine glass, but maybe prettier. More level. Simple yet perfect.

"Eyeing up my stadium, are you, Ally?"

Ally immediately jumped at the imposing voice. She found Austin walking smoothly down an aisle towards the stage. She composed her shock and settled it down enough to roll her eyes.

"Nobody was around and this spot looked lonely." Ally gave him a rueful smile.

He slowly made it to the stage, and soon enough, had his forearms leaning on the piano.

It was the prettiest piano she'd seen. All sleek and white, a _Baldwin _grand piano. He'd seen so many that it just didn't faze him. Ally silently argued that it should absolutely faze him. All musical instruments should faze a human being and remain sentimental. To her, music was art. Records, CD's, instruments, songs.

He stared straight ahead at her, watching as she was trapped inside her thoughts. "You make that up off the top of your head?" he wondered.

He knew she was more than capable of doing so which was why he was so surprised when she shook her head, a smile tugging on the corner of her lips.

"It's a classic, Austin." she told him. "Petula Clark."

"Never heard of her." he replied, honestly.

"You wouldn't." Ally shook her head. "It was a sixties hit." she added, informingly.

He nodded his head, shrugging with slight fascination. Ally got up to move from the piano when Austin stopped her.

"No, no. You don't have to leave." he told her. She looked at him, oddly. He shook his head. "You can...play something else."

Ally breathed out, shaking her head. "I'm not going to play something else. Your sound check starts in half hour anyways."

"You've got time." Austin said, dismissively.

"Well, now I have an audience. Takes the fun out of things." Ally said, tutting her tongue once.

Austin glanced over at the empty stadium to realize that she meant him.

He shook his head at her. "I like hearing you sing." he admitted, gently.

She looked up at him. She hadn't expected him to say that. Maybe she was waiting for a remark or a smirk, or something to ruin the moment. Ally shook her head and her shoulder lifted with a small shrug.

"I don't know what you're expecting to hear." she mumbled, her fingers frolicking for a moment as her mind searched for something to play. She suddenly felt slightly nervous.

"Something new." he said, quickly.

She looked at him and then looked back to the piano keys and began playing a gentle tune. He already liked it. Her fingers were like feathers, dusting the piano keys, hitting each note so lightly yet having the sound protrude beautifully inside his ears.

_Come on skinny love just last the year,_

_Pour a little salt we were never here,_

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my..._

_Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer._

_Tell my love to wreck it all,_

_Cut out all the ropes and let me fall,_

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my..._

_Right in the moment this order's tall._

_And I told you to be patient,_

_And I told you to be fine,_

_And I told you to be balanced,_

_And I told you to be kind,_

_And in the morning I'll be with you,_

_But it will be a different kind,_

_'Cause I'll be holding all the tickets,_

_And you'll be owning all the fines._

_Come on skinny love, what happened here?_

_Suckle on the hope in light brassieres,_

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my..._

_Sullen load is full, so slow on the split._

_And I told you to be patient,_

_And I told you to be fine,_

_And I told you to be balanced,_

_And I told you to be kind,_

_And now all your love is wasted,_

_Then who the hell was I?_

_'Cause now I'm breaking at the britches,_

_And at the end of all your lines._

_Who will love you?_

_Who will fight?_

_And who will fall far behind?_

_Come on skinny love,_

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my..._

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my._

Austin watched the hairpin curve of her lips and how they wrapped around each lyric. He knew he told himself that he would never fall for the charm that she seemed to unwittingly drop everywhere she went, like a little trail behind her feet.

But now, now he just couldn't help it. She was beautiful, sitting there in front of him, her eyes lifting with a near-shy glance. She bit down on the inside of her cheek as she hesitantly moved her hands to rest them in her lap, folded.

"Well?" she pressed, an eye brow twitched upwards. She managed a casual smirk onto her pretty mouth without it wobbling. His silence made her anxious.

Realizing that she was waiting on a reply, Austin cleared his throat. "You're amazing." he said softly, voice full of reverence.

Trying to avoid the awkwardness that was attempting to hitch itself up her throat, Ally snorted. "Amazing, huh?"

He stared back at her, though he never actually replied. Shortly, he placed his palms on the piano and pushed himself away from her. One corner of his lips was upturned. "I need to warm-up for sound check." He hardly gave Ally a small wave of his finger, too cool to actual say goodbye as he left the stage, leaving her there, by herself, on the piano.

Austin shook his head. Falling for Ally would be stupid. His assistant. His songwriter. Some girl who got her dreams crushed in the industry. Trish and Cassidy's friend. Besides, wouldn't it cross some sort of work policy? He'd probably defy the policy anyways. But that wasn't the point. Actually, he didn't know what his point was.

Maybe his point was Ally. That she wasn't just _some girl_. She was, well, _Ally. _

And he didn't quite understand that point yet.

She was Ally, but who was Ally to him? He wouldn't say friend. Friend would be Trish or Dez, and he and Ally never exactly got along. There wasn't a bond latching them that way together. (But there was absolutely _something _latching them together, he knew that much.)

There needed to be an explanation lying around somewhere, and _somebody _was going to have to pick it up. Whether it was himself, or Ally, or maybe even Cassidy if she ever decided to put her hate for him aside and help him for once. (Not that he ever really helped her.)

He needed an explanation for why he did the things that he did and why Ally did the things she did. He needed an explanation for every night he'd spent at her apartment, drunk and babbling. He needed an explanation for why she even listened. He needed an explanation for why her doing something as simple as sitting there calmed the storm in him. He needed an explanation for the way she always seemed to know him without really knowing him. He just needed a clear and reasonable explanation for _everything_.

In summary, Ally was his shoelaces and he was tripping on her. But when he tried to tie it all up, his fingers fumbled and his mind went blank. He couldn't tie the shoes.

It was a good thing a stage crew member had found him and ran through a few things before sound check, otherwise, he might've got buried alive in his thoughts.


End file.
